Chapter 11. Civil Practice Act · Article 5. Depositions and Discovery · Last amended 1980 · Last verified July 17, 2026
In one sentenceO.C.G.A. § 9-11-33 lets any party serve up to 50 written interrogatories, including subparts, on any other party without leave of court, requires answers under oath or stated objections within 30 days of service — or 45 days after service of the summons and complaint for a defendant — and lets a party answer by pointing to business records when the burden of deriving the answer is roughly equal for both sides.
(1)Any party may serve upon any other party written interrogatories to be answered by the party served or, if the party served is a public or private corporation or a partnership or association or a governmental agency, by any officer or agent, who shall furnish such information as is available to the party. Interrogatories 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; provided, however, that no party may serve interrogatories containing more than 50 interrogatories, including subparts, upon any other party without leave of court upon a showing of complex litigation or undue hardship incurred if such additional interrogatories are not permitted.
(2)Each interrogatory shall be answered separately and fully in writing under oath, unless it is objected to, in which event the reasons for objection shall be stated in lieu of an answer. The answers are to be signed by the person making them, and the objections signed by the attorney making them. The party upon whom the interrogatories have been served shall serve a copy of the answers, and objections if any, within 30 days after the service of the interrogatories, except that a defendant may serve answers or objections within 45 days after service of the summons and complaint upon that defendant. The court may allow a shorter or longer time. The party submitting the interrogatories may move for an order under subsection (a) of Code Section 9-11-37 with respect to any objection to or other failure to answer an interrogatory.
(1)Interrogatories may relate to any matters which can be inquired into under subsection (b) of Code Section 9-11-26, and the answers may be used to the extent permitted by the rules of evidence.
(2)An interrogatory otherwise proper is not necessarily objectionable merely because an answer to the interrogatory involves an opinion or contention that relates to fact or to the application of law to fact; but the court may order that such an interrogatory need not be answered until after designated discovery has been completed or until a pretrial conference or other later time.
(c)Option to produce business records. Where the answer to an interrogatory may be derived or ascertained from the business records of the party upon whom the interrogatory has been served or from an examination, audit, or inspection of such business records, or from a compilation, abstract, or summary based thereon, and the burden of deriving or ascertaining the answer is substantially the same for the party serving the interrogatory as for the party served, it is a sufficient answer to the interrogatory to specify the records from which the answer may be derived or ascertained and to afford to the party serving the interrogatory reasonable opportunity to examine, audit, or inspect such records and to make copies, compilations, abstracts, or summaries.
Plain-English Summary
Interrogatories go out without leave of court — on the plaintiff once the action commences, and on any other party with or after service of the summons and complaint. A corporate or governmental party answers through whichever officer or agent can supply the available information. The hard cap on a set of interrogatories served without court permission is 50, subparts included; going beyond that requires leave of court, granted on a showing of complex litigation or the undue hardship that would result if the extra interrogatories weren’t allowed.
Each interrogatory gets a separate, complete answer under oath, or a stated objection in its place, with answers signed by the person who made them and objections signed by the attorney raising them. The response window is 30 days after the interrogatories are served, but a defendant gets a floor of 45 days measured from service of the summons and complaint — not from service of the interrogatories themselves — and the court can shorten or lengthen either deadline.
Interrogatories reach anything within the chapter’s general discovery scope, and one isn’t objectionable just because answering it calls for an opinion or a contention about fact or the application of law to fact — though the court can put off that kind of answer until later discovery, or a pretrial conference, if it prefers.
When the answer can be pulled from the responding party’s own business records, and both sides would face about the same amount of work extracting it, the responding party can point to those records instead of writing out an answer, so long as it gives the requesting party a reasonable opportunity to examine, audit, inspect, copy, compile, and summarize from them.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many interrogatories can one party serve on another in a Georgia lawsuit without asking the court first?
50, including subparts.
Can a party serve more than 50 interrogatories?
Yes, with leave of court, on a showing of complex litigation or the undue hardship that would result if the extra interrogatories weren’t permitted.
How long does a party have to answer interrogatories in Georgia?
30 days after the interrogatories are served, generally; a defendant gets at least 45 days after service of the summons and complaint.
Do interrogatory answers have to be signed under oath?
Yes, each answer is signed by the person making it and answered under oath, unless it’s objected to, in which case the attorney signs the objection instead.
Can a party just point to its business records instead of writing out an answer?
Yes, when the answer is derivable from those records and the burden of extracting it is substantially the same for both sides, so long as reasonable inspection access is provided.
Amendment History
Ga. L. 1966, p. 609, § 33; Ga. L. 1972, p. 510, § 6; Ga. L. 1980, p. 938, § 1.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, published by the
Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Georgia Code Revision Commission / LexisNexis. Last verified July 17, 2026.
· Official source
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