Or. Admin. R. 137-003-0566

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 6, June 1, 2024

Section 137-003-0566 - Discovery in Contested Case Hearing - Methods

(1) Before the hearing, upon request by the agency or by a party, the agency and each party must provide:

(a) The names, telephone numbers, and addresses of witnesses expected to testify at the hearing, except rebuttal witnesses;

(b) Documents that the party or agency plans to offer as evidence;

(c) Objects for inspection, if the party or agency plans to offer the objects as evidence:

(d) Responses to no more than 20 requests for admission (each subpart to count as a separate request) unless otherwise authorized, limited, or prohibited by the administrative law judge; and,

(e) Responses to no more than 20 written interrogatories (each subpart to count as a separate interrogatory), unless otherwise authorized, limited, or prohibited by the administrative law judge.

(2) An agency may provide by rule that some or all discovery methods under this section do not apply to a specified program or category of cases if: it finds that the availability of discovery would unduly complicate or interfere with the hearing process in the program or cases, because of the volume of the applicable caseload and the need for speed and informality in that process, and that alternative procedures for the sharing of relevant information are sufficient to ensure the fundamental fairness of the proceedings.

(3) An agency may, by rule, limit a party's ability to obtain discovery from the agency when the agency merely is providing a forum for the parties and is not an active participant in the case.

(4) This rule is not intended to limit or otherwise conflict with a party's statutory right to obtain public records upon request. If a party knows or expects that a public record request relates to the proceeding, the party shall provide a copy of the public record request to the attorney or representative for the agency at the time the request is made.

(5) This rule is not intended to limit or otherwise conflict with the statutory authority, if any, of the agency to investigate.

Or. Admin. R. 137-003-0566

DOJ 10-1999, f. 12-23-99, cert. ef. 1-1-00; DOJ 7-2003, f. 7-11-03, cert. ef. 7-21-03; DOJ 19-2003, f. 12-12-03, cert. ef. 1-1-04; DOJ 11-2005, f. 10-31-05, cert. ef. 1-1-06; Renumbered from 137-003-0570 by DOJ 1-2012, f. 1-11-12, cert. ef. 1-31-12

Stat. Auth.: ORS 183.341

Stats. Implemented: ORS 183.341 & 183.630