Georgia discovery deadlines: 30 days, 45 for a defendant, and 50 interrogatories
Georgia procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026
Georgia's Civil Practice Act tracks the federal discovery structure with two departures that matter in practice: a longer period for defendants, and a much higher interrogatory cap.
Thirty days, or 45 for a defendant
Interrogatories — § 9-11-33(a)(2): the party 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."
Document requests — § 9-11-34(b)(2): the party served "shall serve a written response within 30 days after the service of the request, except that a defendant may serve a response within 45 days after service of the summons and complaint upon that defendant. The court may allow a shorter or longer time."
Requests for admission — § 9-11-36(a)(2): "The matter is admitted unless, within 30 days after service of the request or within such shorter or longer time as the court may allow, the party to whom the request is directed serves" an answer or objection.
The 45-day branch appears for interrogatories and document requests but not for requests for admission. A defendant served with all three alongside the complaint has 45 days for two of them and 30 for the one with the harshest consequence.
§ 9-11-36(a)(1) permits a request for admission to be served on the plaintiff after commencement, and on any other party with or after service of the summons and complaint.
Fifty interrogatories
§ 9-11-33(a)(1) caps interrogatories at 50, including subparts, absent leave of court or written stipulation.
Fifty matches North Carolina and is double the federal 25. Combined with the 45-day defendant period, Georgia written discovery runs at a noticeably slower cadence than the federal model.
Answers, objections, and the part you must still answer
§ 9-11-33(a)(2): each interrogatory is answered separately and fully in writing under oath unless objected to, "in which event the reasons for objection shall be stated in lieu of an answer." Answers are signed by the person making them; objections by the attorney making them.
The subsection also provides the route for the propounding party: it may move for an order under § 9-11-37(a) with respect to any objection or other failure to answer.
Requests for admission admit themselves
Georgia follows the automatic-admission model. § 9-11-36(b) governs the effect: a matter admitted is conclusively established unless the court on motion permits withdrawal or amendment, and the court may permit it "when the presentation of the merits of the action will be subserved thereby and the party who obtained the admission fails to satisfy the court that withdrawal or amendment will prejudice him in maintaining his action or defense on the merits."
The same two-part test as FRCP 36(b) — merits served, and the opposing party unable to show prejudice.
Scope
§ 9-11-26(b)(1) sets the scope: any matter, not privileged, relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action — with the familiar provision that it is not ground for objection that the information will be inadmissible if it appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.
§ 9-11-26(b)(3) covers trial preparation materials, requiring substantial need and undue hardship, with protection for mental impressions, conclusions, opinions and legal theories. § 9-11-26(b)(4) governs expert discovery.
§ 9-11-26(c) supplies protective orders, available on motion by a party or by the person from whom discovery is sought, and — as in the federal rule — requires a certificate that the movant has in good faith conferred or attempted to confer with other affected parties in an effort to resolve the dispute without court action.
Sanctions
§ 9-11-37(a) covers the motion to compel and the award of expenses, with § 9-11-37(a)(3) providing that an evasive or incomplete answer is to be treated as a failure to answer.
§ 9-11-37(b)(2) lists the orders available where a party fails to obey an order — deeming facts established, refusing to allow the disobedient party to support or oppose designated claims or defenses, striking pleadings, staying proceedings, dismissing the action, rendering default judgment, and treating the failure as contempt.
§ 9-11-37(d) permits sanctions for a complete failure to appear for a deposition or to serve answers or objections to interrogatories or a written response to a request for inspection, "after proper service" — without a prior order.
Where the case timetable comes from
The Civil Practice Act sets response periods but no discovery cutoff. Uniform Superior Court Rule 5 establishes the standard discovery period, and the assigned judge's scheduling order controls where it speaks — so the six-month default and any extension of it are creatures of the Uniform Rules rather than of Title 9.
Those Uniform Rules are court rules rather than statutes, so they sit outside what this site publishes.
How Georgia compares
| Georgia | North Carolina | Federal | Virginia | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interrogatory response | 30 days (45 for a defendant) | 30 days (45 for a defendant) | 30 days | 21 days (28 for a defendant) |
| Document response | 30 days (45 for a defendant) | 30 days (45 for a defendant) | 30 days | 21 days (28 for a defendant) |
| Admissions response | 30 days — no defendant extension | 30 days | 30 days | 21 days |
| Interrogatory limit | 50, incl. subparts | 50 | 25 | 30 |
| Discovery before a conference | permitted | permitted | barred until Rule 26(f) | permitted |
| Sanctions without a prior order | yes — § 9-11-37(d) | yes — Rule 37(d) | yes — Rule 37(d) | yes — Rule 4:12(d) |
A short checklist
- Check which deadline applies. As a defendant you may have 45 days for interrogatories and document requests — but only 30 for requests for admission.
- Count against 50, including subparts.
- Answer under oath, and sign the answers yourself; the attorney signs the objections.
- Treat admissions as the priority — they admit automatically, and the defendant extension doesn't reach them.
- Confer before moving for a protective order — § 9-11-26(c) requires the certificate.
- Read the scheduling order for the discovery period; the statute doesn't set one.
Where these rules live
- O.C.G.A. § 9-11-26 — General Provisions Governing Discovery
- O.C.G.A. § 9-11-33 — Interrogatories to Parties
- O.C.G.A. § 9-11-34 — Production of Documents and Things
- O.C.G.A. § 9-11-36 — Requests for Admission
- O.C.G.A. § 9-11-37 — Failure to Make Discovery; Sanctions
- O.C.G.A. § 9-11-56 — Summary Judgment
Uniform Superior Court Rules set the discovery period and are published by the Georgia courts. This page explains what the statutes say. It isn't legal advice.