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ENGROSSED SENATE
BILL NO. 1576 By: Howard of the Senate
and
Moore of the House
An Act relating to the Oklahoma Discovery Code;
amending 12 O.S. 2021, Section 3234, which relates to
production of documents; imposing limitation upon
requests to produce certain documents or other items;
establishing procedures for additional requests for
production; and providing an effective date .
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 12 O.S. 2021, Section 3234, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 3234. A. IN GENERAL. A party may serve on any other
party a request within the scope of Section 3226 of this title:
1. To produce and permit the requesting party or its
representative to inspect, co py, test or sample the following items
in the possession, custody or control of the responding party:
a. any designated documents or ele ctronically stored
information - including writings, drawings, graphs,
charts, photographs, sound recordings, images and
other data or data compilations – stored in any medium
from which information can be obtained either directly
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or, if necessary, after translation by the responding
party into a reasonably usable form, or
b. any designated tangible things; or
2. To permit entry onto designated land or other property
possessed or controlled by the responding party so that the
requesting party may inspect, measure, survey, photograph, test or
sample the property or any designated object or operation on it.
B. PROCEDURE. 1. The request:
a. shall describe with reasonable particularity each item
or category of items to be inspected,
b. shall specify a reasonable time, place and manner for
the inspection and for performing the related acts,
and
c. may specify the form or forms in which electronically
stored information is to be produced.
2. The number of requests to produce or permit inspection or
copying shall not exceed thirty in number. If counsel for a party
believes that more than thirty requests to produce or permit
inspection or copying are necessary, counsel shall consult with
opposing counsel promptly and attempt to reach a written stipulation
as to a reasonable number of additional requests. Counsel are
expected to comply with this requirement in good faith. In the
event a written stipulation cannot be agreed upon, the party seeking
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to submit such additional requests for production or inspection
shall file a motion with the court:
a. showing that counsel have conferred in good faith but
sincere attempts to resolve t he issue have been
unavailing,
b. showing reasons establishing good cause for their use,
and
c. setting forth the proposed additional requests for
production or inspection.
3. a. The request may be served, without leave of court,
upon any party after the f iling of a petition. The
party to whom the request is directed shall respond in
writing within thirty (30) days after being served.
The thirty-day response period shall not commence
until an answer to the petition is filed. However,
upon leave of court or otherwise agreed to in writing
by the parties subject to Section 3229 of this title,
the response to the request may be required prior to
the filing of an answer to the petition.
b. For each item or category, the response shall either
state that inspection and related activities will be
permitted as requested or state with specificity the
grounds for objecting to the request, including the
reasons. The responding party may state that it will
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produce copies of documents or of electronically
stored information instead of permitting inspection.
The production shall be completed no later than the
time for inspection specified in the request, or
another reasonable time specified in the response.
c. An objection shall state whether any responsive
materials are being withheld on the basis of that
objection. An objection to part of a request shall
specify the part and permit inspection of the rest.
d. The response may state an objection to a requested
form for producing electronically stored information.
If the responding party objects to a requested form,
or if no form was specified in the request, the party
shall state the form or forms it intends to use.
e. Unless otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court,
these procedures apply to producing documents or
electronically stored information:
(1) a party shall produce documents as they are kept
in the usual course of business or shall organiz e
and label them to correspond to the categories in
the request,
(2) if a request does not specify a form for
producing electronically stored information, a
party shall produce it in a form or forms in
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which it is ordinarily maintained or in a
reasonably usable form or forms, and
(3) a party need not produce the same electronically
stored information in more than one form.
C. NONPARTIES. A nonparty may be compelled to produce
documents and tangible things or to permit an inspection as provided
in Section 2004.1 of this title.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2024.
Passed the Senate th e 29th day of February, 2024.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
Passed the House of Representatives the ____ day of __________,
2024.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives