16 Tex. Admin. Code § 22.144 - Requests for Information and Requests for Admission of Facts
(a) Availability.
At any time after an application is filed, and subject to the provisions of
§
22.141 of this title (relating to
Forms and Scope of Discovery), any party may serve upon any other party written
requests for information and requests for admission of fact.
(b) Making requests for information.
(1) Contents. A request under this section
shall identify with reasonable particularity the information, documents or
material sought. A request seeking inspection of documents or property shall
describe with reasonable particularity the documents to be produced or the
property to which access is requested, and shall set forth the items to be
inspected by individual item or by category.
(2) Service. A copy of each request for
information shall be served upon all parties to the proceeding. Requests for
information may be served by facsimile transmittal on the recipient of the
request if the recipient has a facsimile machine available for use in the
proceeding. Requests for information that are received after 3:00 p.m. shall be
deemed to have been received the following business day. Responses to requests
for information shall be served on the requesting party and any party that has
requested, in writing, to be served.
(c) Responding to requests for information.
(1) Time for response. The party upon whom a
request is served shall serve a full written response to the request within 20
days after receipt of the request. The presiding officer, on motion and for
good cause shown, may extend or shorten the time for providing
responses.
(2) Requirements of
response.
(A) Each response to discovery
under this subsection shall identify the preparer or person under whose direct
supervision the response was prepared, and the sponsoring witness, if
any.
(B) Each request for
information shall be answered separately. Responses to requests for information
shall be preceded by the request to which the answer pertains.
(C) Responses to requests for production of
documents, property, or other items, shall state, for each item or category of
items for which an objection has not been raised, that inspection or other
requested action will be permitted at a mutually convenient time at the
location where the documents, property, or other items are maintained. If
compliance with the request is impossible, a written response shall be filed
stating the reasons for the unavailability of the information.
(D) Where the response to a request for
information may be derived or ascertained from local public records, the
responding party shall not be obligated to produce the documents for the
requesting party. It shall be sufficient answer to identify with particularity
the public records that contain the requested information.
(E) Where a request may be answered by
production of or reference to information that currently exists in the form of
a document, computer record, or other existing tangible thing that is
voluminous, as defined in subsection (h) of this section, it is a sufficient
answer to the request to specify the records from which the answer may be
derived or ascertained and to afford a reasonable opportunity to the requesting
party to examine, to audit or to inspect such records and to allow the
requesting party to make copies, compilations, abstracts or summaries from such
records. The specification of records provided shall include sufficient detail
to permit the requesting party to locate and to identify, as readily as can the
responding party, the records from which the answers may be
ascertained.
(F) Responses to
requests for information shall be filed under oath, unless the responding party
stipulates in writing that responses to requests for information can be treated
by all parties as if the answers were filed under oath.
(d) Objections to requests for
information. Parties shall negotiate diligently and in good faith concerning
any discovery dispute prior to filing an objection. The objections shall
include a statement that negotiations were conducted diligently and in good
faith. If negotiation fails, objections to requests for information, if any,
shall be filed within ten calendar days of receipt of the request for
information. The objections shall state the date the request for information
was received.
(1) The objections shall be a
separate pleading and entitled "Objections of (name of objecting party) to
(style of RFI objected to)." The request for information to which an objection
is being filed shall be stated and the specific grounds for the objection shall
be separately listed for each question. If an objection pertains only to a part
of a question, that part shall be clearly identified. All arguments upon which
the objecting party relies shall be presented in full in the
objection.
(2) If the objection is
founded upon a claim of privilege or exemption under the Texas Rules of Civil
Procedure, the objecting party shall file within two working days of the filing
of the objections, an index that lists, for each document: the date and title
of the document; the preparer or custodian of the information; to whom the
document was sent and from whom it was received; and the privilege(s) or
exemption(s) that is claimed. A full and complete explanation of the claimed
privilege or exemption shall be provided. The index shall be sufficiently
detailed to enable the presiding officer to identify the documents from the
list provided. The index and explanations shall be public documents and shall
be served on all parties who are entitled to receive copies of responses to
requests for information under subsection (b)(2) of this section. If a document
is to be provided pursuant to the terms of a protective order, the responding
party need not comply with the procedures of this paragraph.
(3) A party raising objections on the grounds
of relevance as well as grounds of privilege or exemption is not required to
file an index to the privileged or exempt documents at the time the objections
are filed. A party may instead include an objection to the filing of the index.
The objections shall show good cause for postponement of the filing of the
index. An index to the privileged or exempt documents shall be due within five
working days of receipt of an order denying the relevance objection or
overruling the objection to the filing of an index.
(4) The requirement to respond to those
requests, or portions thereof, to which objection is made shall be postponed
until the objections are ruled upon and for such additional time thereafter as
the presiding officer may direct.
(5) In the interests of narrowing discovery
disputes, the responding party may agree to provide certain information sought
by a request while objecting to the provision of other information sought by
the request.
(e) Motions
to compel. The party seeking discovery shall file a motion to compel no later
than five working days after the objection is received. Absence of a motion to
compel will be construed as an indication that the parties have resolved their
dispute. The presiding officer may rule on the motion to compel based on
written pleadings without allowing additional argument.
(f) Responses to motions to compel. Responses
to a motion to compel shall be filed within five working days after receipt of
the motion, and shall include all factual and legal arguments the respondent
wants to present regarding the motion.
(g) In camera inspection. If an objection is
founded on a claim of privilege or an exemption under the Texas Rules of Civil
Procedure, the burden is on the objecting party to request an in camera
inspection and to provide the documents for review. Any request shall be filed
within three working days of the receipt of the motion to compel. The request
shall contain the factual and legal basis to support the claimed exemption or
privilege. The objecting party shall review the documents and note with
specificity any portions to which the claimed privilege or exemption claim does
not apply. The objecting party shall provide the documents to the presiding
officer, under seal, no later than one working day after it requests an in
camera inspection. Documents submitted for in camera review shall not be filed
with the commission filing clerk. Documents submitted for in camera review
shall be submitted to the presiding officer and enclosed in a sealed and
labeled container accompanied by an explanatory cover letter. The cover letter
shall identify the control number and style of the proceeding and explain the
nature of the sealed materials. The container shall identify the control
number, style of the case, name of the submitting party, and be marked "IN
CAMERA REVIEW" in bold print at least one inch in size. Each page for which a
privilege is asserted shall be marked "privileged."
(h) Production of voluminous material. The
following procedures shall apply to production of voluminous materials:
(1) Responses to particular questions that
consist of less than 100 pages are not voluminous and shall be filed in
full.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3)
of this subsection, the responding party shall make available all voluminous
material provided in response to a request for information at a designated
location in Austin.
(3) A party
will be released from its obligation to make available the requested voluminous
material at a designated location in Austin, only if the volume of the material
exceeds eight linear feet. In that event, the party shall make the material
available where the material is located.
(4) The party providing the voluminous
material shall file with its response a detailed index of the voluminous
material responsive to a particular question and shall organize the responses
and material to enable parties to efficiently review the material, including
labeling of material by request for information number and subparts and
sequentially numbering the material responsive to a particular question. The
index shall include:
(A) information
sufficient to locate each individual document by page number, file number, and
box number;
(B) the date of each
document;
(C) the title of the
document, or, if none exists, a description of the document;
(D) the name of the preparer of each
document; and
(E) the length of
each document.
(i) Duty to supplement. A responding party is
under a continuing duty to supplement its discovery responses if that party
acquires information upon the basis of which the party knows or should know
that the response was incorrect or incomplete when made, or though correct or
complete when made, is materially incorrect or incomplete. The responding party
shall amend its prior response within five working days of acquiring the
information.
(j) Requests for
admission of facts. Requests for admission of facts shall be made in accordance
with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
(k) Modifications of deadlines. Modification
of the deadlines for responses, objections, and motions to compel may be
modified by agreement of the affected parties, by filing a letter or other
document evidencing the agreement.
Notes
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