Rule 114.Duties and powers

Once a case is referred to a Master, Rule 114 hands that Master a full set of tools to run the hearing: authority to administer oaths, to examine the parties and witnesses under oath on matters within the order of reference, to summon and enforce the attendance of witnesses, and to require production of books, papers, writings, vouchers, and other applicable documents. The Master can have evidence taken down in writing, order other witnesses examined under a commission issued on the Master's certificate or by deposition, certify to testimony taken, direct how proof is to be made, and grant adjournments and extensions of time.

Rule 114 closes with a catch-all: the Master may generally do all other acts, and direct all other inquiries and proceedings, that the Master deems necessary and proper in the matters referred. But every one of these powers, named or general, operates "subject at all times to the revision and control of the Court." Nothing a Master does under Rule 114 is the last word; the rules that follow, especially Rule 122's report-and-review process, are where that oversight plays out.