Idaho requests for admission: nothing gets filed, and you keep the originals for a year

Idaho treats requests for admission as papers that live with the parties, not with the court. That changes what you file, what you keep, and what you hand up when you finally want to rely on them.

Nothing is filed but a notice

The rule is explicit:

Neither the requests nor the responses are to be filed with the court.

What goes to the court instead is a record that they happened: "The party serving requests and responses to them must file with the court a notice of when and upon whom it was served."

So the court file shows the fact and date of service, and nothing more. That has a practical consequence worth planning for — if a dispute arises about what was asked or answered, the court has no copy, and the parties supply it.

Keep the originals for a year after it is over

The propounding party must maintain the original requests and the original responses, along with the original proof of service for 1 year following the final disposition of the action and expiration of any period for appeal, unless the court orders that they be retained for a longer period.

Three components — the original requests, the original responses, and the original proof of service — retained by the propounding party, for a year measured from final disposition and the expiry of any appeal period, whichever is later in effect.

That is a file-closing instruction as much as a litigation one. A firm that scans and destroys on closing needs a carve-out for these.

Using admissions later

Where admissions are put before the court, the rule asks for restraint rather than volume:

If admissions are to be used at trial or in support or opposition to any motion, only the portion of the admissions relied should be submitted to the court.

And it removes the usual authentication burden for excerpts: "Unless a genuine issue of authenticity is raised, a party may submit excerpts from copies of the original admissions or answers and is not required to submit the original."

So a summary judgment motion attaches the relevant answers, not the whole set — and copies suffice unless authenticity is genuinely in issue.

The answer restates the request

The answers must first set forth each request for admission made, followed by the answer, objection or other response of the party.

The same requirement Utah imposes, and for the same reason: because nothing is filed, the response has to be readable on its own when it is eventually handed up.

When they may be served

Requests for admission may be served on the plaintiff after commencement of the suit and upon any other party with or after service of the summons and complaint.

So a defendant can be served with requests for admission at the same moment as the complaint — worth knowing on both sides, because the response clock starts then.

Documents attached to a pleading are not admitted by silence

A provision that reverses an old trap:

The genuineness, accuracy or truth of any document attached to a pleading must not be deemed as admitted by the other party because of a failure to make a verified denial.

Attaching a contract to a complaint does not put its genuineness beyond dispute merely because the answer was not verified. If you want a document admitted, ask for it in a request for admission.

If an answer does not comply, the court can deem the matter admitted

Idaho gives the requesting party a way to test what came back:

The requesting party may move to determine the sufficiency of an answer or objection. Unless the court finds an objection justified, it must order that an answer be served. On finding that an answer does not comply with this rule, the court may order either that the matter is admitted or that an amended answer be served.

Two different outcomes, depending on what the problem is.

An objection the court does not find justified produces one result only — the court "must order that an answer be served."

An answer that does not comply gives the court a choice: order an amended answer, or order that the matter is admitted. The second is the reason evasive answers are risky. A denial that does not fairly respond to the substance of the matter is not merely inadequate; it can become an admission.

The court is not required to decide at once:

The court may defer its final decision until a pretrial conference or a specified time before trial. Rule 37(a)(5) applies to an award of expenses.

The cross-reference is the sting in the tail. Rule 37(a)(5) is the fee-shifting provision that ordinarily follows a discovery motion, so the party on the wrong end of the ruling can expect to pay for it.

Once admitted, it is conclusively established

Rule 36(b) says what an admission does, and how narrowly it can be undone:

A matter admitted under this rule is conclusively established unless the court, on motion, permits the admission to be withdrawn or amended. The court may permit withdrawal or amendment if it would promote the presentation of the merits of the action and if the court is not persuaded that it would prejudice the requesting party in maintaining or defending the action on the merits.

"Conclusively established." Not strong evidence — established. Given that a matter is admitted by default if nothing is served within thirty days, the calendar entry is as important as anything in the answer.

The escape has two conditions and they are cumulative. Withdrawal must promote the presentation of the merits, and the court must not be persuaded of prejudice to the requesting party "in maintaining or defending the action on the merits." A party that stopped lining up proof of a fact because it had been admitted is describing exactly that prejudice.

One limit runs the other way:

An admission under this rule is not an admission for any other purpose and cannot be used against the party in any other proceeding.

The admission belongs to this case. It does not travel to a related suit, a later action between the same parties, or a different forum.

A short checklist

Serving requests:

1. File a notice of service, not the requests themselves.
2. Keep the originals — requests, responses and proof of service — for a year after final disposition and any appeal period.
3. Serve a defendant with the complaint if you want the clock running early.
4. Ask expressly about documents. Attaching one to a pleading does not make it admitted.

Responding:

1. Restate each request before your answer, objection or other response.
2. Do not file your response; serve it, and expect a notice of service on the docket.
3. Keep your own copy. The court has none.

Using them:

1. Submit only the portion relied on, not the whole set.
2. Use excerpts from copies unless authenticity is genuinely in issue.
3. Have the originals available if a genuine authenticity dispute arises — that is what the retention rule is for.

Where these rules live

• I.R.C.P. 36 — Requests for admission
• I.R.C.P. 26 — General Provisions Governing Discovery
• I.R.C.P. 37 — Failure to Cooperate in Discovery
• Idaho motion to compel discovery
• Idaho depositions
• Responding to an Idaho complaint

This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and an individual court's order may require records to be retained longer than the rule does.