SECTION 155.255. Written Discovery

(a) Forms of written discovery. Unless otherwise provided by this section or ordered by the judge, parties may use the forms of written discovery provided by the TRCP, with the following modifications:

(1) Requests for production. Each party may serve no more than 25 written requests for production. Each discrete subpart of a request for production is considered a separate request for production.

(2) Interrogatories. Each party may serve no more than 25 written interrogatories, excluding interrogatories asking a party only to identify or authenticate specific documents. Each discrete subpart of an interrogatory is considered a separate interrogatory.

(3) Requests for admissions. Each party may serve no more than 25 requests for admissions. Requests for admissions may be used only to address jurisdictional facts or the genuineness of any documents served with the request.

(4) Requests for disclosure.

(A) The discovery rules of the TRCP requiring initial disclosures without awaiting a discovery request do not apply to a contested case under SOAH's jurisdiction, except as may be ordered or allowed by the judge.

(B) A party may request disclosure of documents or information that the opposing party has in its possession, custody, or control, including, but not limited to, the following:

(i) the correct names of the parties to the contested case; the name, address, and telephone number of any potential parties;

(ii) a general description of the legal theories and the factual bases of the responding party's claims or defenses, if not already set forth in a pleading or document filed in the record of the proceeding at SOAH;

(iii) the name, address, and telephone number of persons having knowledge of relevant facts, and a brief statement of each identified person's connection with the case;

(iv) the statement of any person with knowledge of relevant facts (witness statement) regardless of when the statement was made; and

(v) a copy, or description by category and location, of all documents, electronic information, and tangible items that the disclosing party has in its possession, custody or control and may use to support its claims or defenses, unless the use would be solely for impeachment. A request for disclosure made pursuant to this subsection is not considered a request for production.

(5) Expert Disclosures and Reports. Upon request of the opposing party, or as otherwise ordered or allowed by the judge, a party must timely provide the following disclosures for any testifying expert in advance of a scheduled hearing on the merits:

(A) the expert's name, address, and telephone number;

(B) the subject matter on which the expert will testify;

(C) the general substance of the expert's mental impressions and opinions and a brief summary of the basis for them, or if the expert is not retained by, employed by, or otherwise subject to the control of the responding party, documents reflecting such information;

(D) if the expert is retained by, employed by, or otherwise subject to the control of the responding party:

(i) all documents, tangible things, reports, models, or data compilations that have been provided to, reviewed by, or prepared by or for the expert in anticipation of the expert's testimony;

(ii) the expert's current resume and bibliography;

(iii) the expert's qualifications, including a list of all publications authored in the previous 10 years;

(iv) a list of all other cases in which, during the previous four years, the expert testified as an expert at trial or by deposition; and

(v) a statement of the compensation to be paid for the expert's study and testimony in the case.

(E) If the discoverable factual observations, tests, supporting data, calculations, photographs, or opinions of an expert have not been recorded and reduced to tangible form, the judge may order these matters reduced to tangible form and produced, in addition to the deposition of the expert.

(b) Written discovery requests shall be served at least 30 days before the end of the discovery period, unless otherwise specified by this section or ordered by the judge.

(c) Response. Unless otherwise ordered by the judge or agreed by the parties, responses to written discovery requests shall be made within 30 days after receipt.

(1) Responses and documents produced in discovery shall be served upon the requesting party, and notice of service shall be given to all parties.

(2) A party producing documents in response to a discovery request must retain the original documents or exact duplicates of the original documents.

Source Note: The provisions of this §155.255 adopted to be effective January 1, 2017, 41 TexReg 8593; amended to be effective August 29, 2021, 46 TexReg 5173