Rule 34 - Production of Documents and Things and Entry upon Land for Inspection and Other Purposes(a) Scope. Any party may serve on any other party a request (1) to produce and permit the party making the request, or someone acting on his behalf, to inspect and copy, any designated documents or electronically stored information (including writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, phono-records, and other data compilations from which information can be obtained, translated, if necessary, by the respondent through detection devices into reasonably useable form), or to inspect and copy, test, or sample any tangible things which constitute or contain matters within the scope of Rule 26(b) and which are in the possession, custody, or control of the party upon whom the request is served; or (2) to 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, photographing, testing, or sampling the property or any designated object or operation thereon, within the scope of Rule 26(b).(b) Procedure.(i)Requests. The request may, without leave of court, be served upon the plaintiff after commencement of the action and upon any other party with or after service of the summons and complaint upon that party. The request shall set forth the items to be inspected either by individual item or by category, and describe each item and category with reasonable particularity. The request shall specify a reasonable time, place, and manner of making the inspection and performing the related acts. The request may specify the form or forms in which electronically stored information is to be produced.(ii)Responses and Obiections.(A)Time to Respond. The party upon whom the request is served shall serve a written response within thirty days after the service of the request, except that a defendant may serve a response within forty-five days after service of the summons and complaint upon that defendant. The court may allow a shorter or longer time.(B)Responding to Each Item. The response shall state, with respect to each item or category, that inspection and related activities will be permitted as requested, unless the request is objected to, in which event the grounds for objection shall be stated with specificity, including the reasons. The responding party may state that it will produce copies of documents or of electronically stored information instead of permitting inspection. The production must then be completed no later than the time for inspection specified in the request or another reasonable time specified in the response.(C)Obiections. An objection must state whether any responsive materials are being withheld on the basis of the objection. An objection to a part of a request must specify the part and permit inspection of the rest.(D)Responding to a Request for Production of Electronically Stored Information. 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 responding party must state the form or forms it intends to use. Pursuant to Rule 26(b)(5), a responding party may also object to production of electronically stored information that is not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost.(E)Producing the Documents or Electronically Stored Information. When producing documents, the producing party shall produce them as they are kept in the usual course of business or shall organize and label them to correspond with the categories in the request that call for their production. If a request does not specify a form for producing electronically stored information, a party must produce it in a form or forms in which it is ordinarily maintained or in a reasonably usable form or forms. A party need not produce the same electronically stored information in more than one form.(F)Motion to Compel. The party submitting the request may move for an order to compel discovezy under Rule 37(a) with respect to any objection to or other failure to respond to the request or any part thereof, or any failure to permit inspection as requested.(c) Persons Not Parties. As provided in Rule 45, a party may compel a nonparty to produce documents and tangible things or to permit inspection.Amended effective 7/1/2013, to address production of electronically stored information; amended effective 10/7/2021.Advisory Committee Historical Note
Effective October 7, 2021, M.R.C.P. 34 was amended. M.R.C.P. 34(b) was subdivided and captions were added. In addition, the amendment requires an objecting party to state the objection with specificity, including the reasons for the objection, and to indicate whether any materials are being withheld based upon the objection. M.R.C.P. 34(c) was amended to include a reference to M.R.C.P. 45.