OAR 690-002-0095: Discovery

(1) Prior to or at the time of referral, the Department shall provide a copy of the agency file. (2) Requests for admission are not an available method of discovery in contested cases subject to these rules. (3) An administrative law judge may not order responses to more than 10 interrogatories (each subpart to count as a separate interrogatory) in a contested case subject to these rules without the Department’s written consent. (4) Requests for production of documents are an available method of discovery in contested cases subject to these rules; provided, however, that if the Department determines that the combined response time to a party’s requests for production of documents made to the Department would exceed 30 hours of staff time, the Department may require the requesting party to make a public records request in lieu of a request for production of documents. If the Department requires a public records request and an exemption from disclosure would apply to the public records request but not to a discovery request, the Department will not apply the exemption. The Department will not charge applicable public records fees for the first 30 hours of staff time. (5) A site visit requires the consent of the Department, the parties, and the administrative law judge. (6) Subpoenas for the production of documents made to any party or the Department, or to any employee or agent of any party or the Department, must be issued no later than the deadline for filing a motion to compel. (7) A public records request made to the Department is not a basis for the extension of a hearing schedule if: (a) It is made more than two weeks after the deadline for filing a motion to compel, if the requestor did not file a motion to compel; or (b) It is made more than two weeks after the administrative law judge’s ruling on a motion to compel, if the requestor filed a motion to compel.