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Rule 58.01 – Production of Documents and things and Entry upon Land for Inspection and other Purposes [Effective August 2, 2021]

May 13, 2021 | Civil Procedure, Missouri

(a) Scope. Any party may serve on any other party a request to:

(1) Produce and permit the requesting party or its representative to inspect, copy, test, or sample the following items in the responding party’s possession, custody, or control:

(A) Any designated documents or electronically stored information including writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, sound recordings, images, electronic records, and other data or compilations from which information can be obtained either directly or indirectly or, if necessary, after translation by the responding party into reasonably usable form; or
(B) Any designated tangible things; or
(2) Permit entry upon designated land or other property in the possession or control of the party upon whom the request is served for the purpose of inspection and measuring, surveying, and photographing, testing, or sampling the property or any designated object or operation thereon, within the scope of Rule 56.01(b).

This Rule 58.01 does not preclude an independent action against a person not a party for production of documents and things and permission to enter upon land.

(b) Issuance.

(1) Form. In consecutively numbered paragraphs the request shall:

(A) Set forth with reasonable particularity each item or category of items to be inspected;
(B) Specify a reasonable time, place, and manner of making the inspection and performing the related acts; and
(C) May specify that electronically stored information be produced in native format.

The title shall identify the party to whom the requests are directed and state the number of the set of requests directed to that party.

(2) When Requests May Be Served. Without leave of court, requests may be served on:

(A) A plaintiff after commencement of the action, and
(B) Any other party with or after the party was served with process, entered an appearance, or filed a pleading.
(3) Service. Copies of the requests shall be served on all parties not in default. The party issuing the requests shall also provide each responding party an electronic copy in a commonly used medium, such as a diskette, CD-ROM, or as an e-mail attachment, in a format that can be read by most commonly used word processing programs, such as Word for Windows or WordPerfect 5.x or higher. In addition to the information normally in a certificate of service, the certificate of service shall also state the:

(A) Name of each party who is to respond to the requests;
(B) Number of the set of requests; and
(C) Format of the electronic copy and the medium used to transmit the electronic copy to the responding party.

At the time of service, a certificate of service, but not the requests, shall be filed with the court as provided in Rule 58.01(d).

(c) Response. The requests shall be answered by each party to whom they are directed.

(1) When Response Is Due. Responses shall be served within 30 days after the service of the request. A defendant, however, shall not be required to respond to the request before the expiration of 45 days after the earlier of:

(A) The date the defendant enters an appearance; or
(B) The date the defendant is served with process.

The court may allow a shorter or longer time.

(2) Form. The title of the response shall identify the responding party and the number of the set of the requests. The response shall quote each request, including its original paragraph number, and immediately thereunder state that the requested items will be produced or the inspection and related activities will be permitted as requested, unless the request is objected to, in which event each reason for objection shall be stated in detail.
(3) Objections and Privileges. If information is withheld because of an objection, then each reason for the objection shall be stated. An objection to part of a request must specify the part and permit inspection of the rest. If a privilege or the work product doctrine is asserted as a reason for the objection, then without revealing the protected information, the objecting party shall state information that will permit others to assess the applicability of the privilege or work product doctrine.
(4) Method of Production. A party who produces documents for inspection shall produce them as they are kept in the usual course of business so long as this form is reasonably usable by the requesting party, or shall organize and label them to correspond with the categories in the request.
(5) Signing. The response shall be signed by the attorney or by the party if the party is not represented by an attorney.
(6) Service. The party to whom the requests were directed shall serve a signed original of the response and objections, if any, on the party that issued the requests and a copy upon all parties not in default. The certificate of service shall state the name of the party who issued the requests and the number of the set of requests.

At the time of service, a certificate of service, but not the response, shall be filed with the court as provided in Rule 58.01(d).

(d) Filing. The request and responses thereto shall not be filed with the court except upon court order or contemporaneously with a motion placing the request in issue. However, both when the request and responses are served, the party serving them shall file with the court a certificate of service. The certificate shall show the caption of the case, the name of the party served, the date and manner of service, and the signature of the serving party or attorney. Each party filing a certificate shall maintain a copy of the document that is the subject of the certificate until the case is finally disposed.
(e) Enforcement. The party submitting the request may move for an order under Rule 61.01(d) with respect to any objection or other failure to respond to the request or any part thereof or any failure to permit inspection as requested.

Mo. R. Civ. P. 58.01

Adopted March 29, 1974, effective January 1, 1975. Amended June 1, 1993, effective January 1, 1994. Amended June 21, 2005, effective January 1, 2006; amended October 15, 2018, effective July 1, 2019; amended March 2, 2021, effective August 2, 2021.