Section 45 IAC 16-1.5-10 - DiscoveryAuthority: IC 8-2.1-18-6
Affected: IC 8-2.1-18
Sec. 10.
(a) Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action, including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition and location of any books, documents, or other tangible things. It is not grounds for objection that the information sought will be inadmissible at the hearing if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. (b) All discovery requests shall be made in writing and served upon all parties. Discovery may be conducted without filing such requests with the commission. (c)(1) Any party against whom discovery is directed shall satisfy the request within (30) days following receipt thereof or reach an agreement with the requesting party as to the nature, scope and time schedule for the requested discovery. An evasive or incomplete answer, if made in bad faith, shall be considered a failure to answer. (2) Any party against whom discovery is directed may object to a discovery request. The objection must be made in writing and specifically enumerate which items of the discovery request are objectionable and why. Any objection to a discovery request shall be made within ten (10) days of receipt of the request or such objection shall be deemed waived. (3) If a party against whom discovery is directed fails to satisfy the request within the required or agreed time schedule or objects to the discovery request, the party seeking discovery may file with the commission a written motion to compel discovery attaching a copy of the discovery request and any objections and setting forth the reasons why such discovery shall be filed within seven (7) days following receipt of service of the motion, unless the presiding officer shall prescribe a different time. Any reply to responses shall be filed within five (5) days of receipt of service of the response, unless the presiding officer shall prescribe a different time. (4) The party against whom discovery is directed may file a motion for protective order seeking protection from unduly burdensome, oppressive or unreasonably duplicative discovery or seeking to establish reasonable guidelines for the discovery sought. (5) In order to serve the public interest and expedite the discovery process, the presiding officer, with or without motion, may call an informal attorneys' conference to be conducted off the record of the proceeding, for the purpose of discussing, hearing argument on, and resolving discovery disputes. The presiding officer shall have authority to participate in the discussions and assist the parties in resolving discovery disputes. The rulings of the presiding officer made at such conference shall be reduced to writing in the form of a docket entry and shall be binding upon all the parties. (d) A party who has responded to a request for discovery with a response which was complete when made, is under no duty to supplement his response to include information thereafter acquired unless that party later learns that his response is incorrect, in which case such party is under a duty to reasonably correct the response. (e) Protestants should make every attempt to properly coordinate discovery so as to avoid duplication. Accordingly, all requests for discovery shall be served upon all parties to a proceeding. In addition, all responses made to discovery requests shall be served upon all of the parties to the proceeding. In the event that requests for discovery nonetheless become overly duplicative, the responding party may consolidate answers so as to avoid unnecessary duplication. However, the responding party is still under the obligation to adequately respond in good faith to the substance of all of the requests of each of the parties to the proceeding. (f) In accordance with Rule 28(F) of the Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure, any situation not specifically addressed by this section shall be governed by Rules 26 through 37 inclusive of the Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure, insofar as said Rules do not conflict with the provisions of IC 8-1-2-29. Department of State Revenue; 45 IAC 16-1.5-10; filed Oct 21, 1986, 10:37 am: 10 IR 386Transferred from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission ( 170 IAC 1-1.2-10) to the Department of State Revenue ( 45 IAC 16-1.5-10) by P.L. 72-1988, SECTION 12, effective July 1, 1988.