Rule 34.Producing Documents, Electronically Stored Information, and Tangible Things, or Entering Onto Land, for Inspection and Other Purposes
Last amended July 1, 2021 · Last verified July 1, 2026
In one sentenceRule 34 lets a party demand that another party produce documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things for inspection and copying, or allow entry onto land for inspection and testing, and adds a pre-suit procedure for obtaining limited discovery before a potential claim is even filed.
Subject to the scope of discovery provisions of Civ.R. 26(B), any party may serve on any other party a request to produce and permit the party making the request, or someone acting on the requesting party's behalf (1) to inspect and copy any designated documents or electronically stored information, including writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, sound recordings, images, and other data or data compilations stored in any medium from which information can be obtained that are in the possession, custody, or control of the party upon whom the request is served; (2) to inspect and copy, test, or sample any tangible things that are in the possession, custody, or control of the party upon whom the request is served; (3) to enter upon designated land or other property in the possession or control of the party upon whom the request is served for the purpose of inspection and measuring, surveying, photographing, testing, or sampling the property or any designated object or operation on the property.
Without leave of court, the request may be served upon the plaintiff after commencement of the action and upon any other party after service of the summons and complaint upon that party. The request shall set forth the items to be inspected either by individual item or by category and describe each item and category with reasonable particularity. The request shall specify a reasonable time, place, and manner of making the inspection and performing the related acts. The request may specify the form or forms in which electronically stored information is to be produced, but may not require the production of the same information in more than one form. The party serving the request shall serve an electronic copy of the request on a shareable medium and in an editable format by electronic mail, or by other means agreed to by the parties. A party who is unable to provide an electronic copy of the requests may seek leave of court to be relieved of this requirement.
1The party upon whom the request is served shall serve a written response within a period designated in the request that is not less than twenty-eight days after the service of the request or within a shorter or longer time as the court may allow. With respect to each item or category, the response shall state that inspection and related activities will be permitted as requested, unless it is objected to, including an objection to the requested form or forms for producing electronically stored information, in which event the reasons for objection shall be stated. If objection is made to part of an item or category, the part shall be specified. If objection is made to the requested form or forms for producing electronically stored information, or if no form was specified in the request, the responding party must state the form or forms it intends to use. The party submitting the request may move for an order under Civ.R. 37 with respect to any objection to or other failure to respond to the request or any part of the request, or any failure to permit inspection as requested.
2A party who produces documents for inspection shall, at its option, produce them as they are kept in the usual course of business or organized and labeled to correspond with the categories in the request.
3If a request does not specify the form or forms for producing electronically stored information, a responding party may produce the information in a form or forms in which the information is ordinarily maintained if that form is reasonably useable, or in any form that is reasonably useable. Unless ordered by the court or agreed to by the parties, a party need not produce the same electronically stored information in more than one form.
Subject to the scope of discovery provisions of Civ.R. 26(B) and 45(F), a person not a party to the action may be compelled to produce documents, electronically stored information or tangible things or to submit to an inspection as provided in Civ.R. 45.
1Subject to the scope of discovery provisions of Civ.R. 26(B) and 45(F), a person who claims to have a potential cause of action may file a petition to obtain discovery as provided in this rule. Prior to filing a petition for discovery, the person seeking discovery shall make reasonable efforts to obtain voluntarily the information from the person from whom the discovery is sought. The petition shall be captioned in the name of the person seeking discovery and be filed in the court of common pleas in the county in which the person from whom the discovery is sought resides, the person’s principal place of business is located, or the potential action may be filed. The petition shall include all of the following:
aA statement of the subject matter of the petitioner’s potential cause of action and the petitioner’s interest in the potential cause of action;
bA statement of the efforts made by the petitioner to obtain voluntarily the information from the person from whom the discovery is sought;
cA statement or description of the information sought to be discovered with reasonable particularity;
dThe names and addresses, if known, of any person the petitioner expects will be an adverse party in the potential action;
eA request that the court issue an order authorizing the petitioner to obtain the discovery.
2The petition shall be served upon the person from whom discovery is sought and, if known, any person the petitioner expects will be an adverse party in the potential action, by one of the methods provided in these rules for service of summons.
3The court shall issue an order authorizing the petitioner to obtain the requested discovery if the court finds all of the following:
aThe discovery is necessary to ascertain the identity of a potential adverse party;
bThe petitioner is otherwise unable to bring the contemplated action;
cThe petitioner made reasonable efforts to obtain voluntarily the information from the person from whom the discovery is sought.
Amendment History
Effective Date: July 1, 1970
Amended: July 1, 1993; July 1, 1994; July 1, 2005; July 1, 2008; July 1, 2017; July 1, 2019; July 1, 2021
Staff Note (July 1, 2005 Amendment)
Rule 34(C) Persons not parties
Civ.R. 34(C) is amended to move a reference to notice of issuance of a subpoena directed to a nonparty to Civ.R. 45(A)(3). The amendments to Civ.R. 34 and 45 place all provisions requiring notice of issuance of most types of subpoena directed to nonparties appear in Civ.R. 45(A)(3) rather than being split between Civ.R. 34(C) and Civ.R. 45(A)(3). The prior arrangement made it easy to overlook the notice provisions of Civ.R. 34(C). See, e.g., Neftzer v. Neftzer, 140 Ohio App.3d 618, 621 (2000).
Staff Note (July 1, 2008 Amendment)
The title of this rule is changed to reflect its coverage of electronically stored information discovery.
The amendment to Civ.R. 34(A) clarifies that discovery of electronically stored information is expressly authorized and regulated by this rule.
Amendments to the first paragraph of Civ.R. 34(B) allow the requesting party to specify the form of forms in which electronically stored information should be produced. For example, the party propounding discovery seeking electronically stored information could request that a party’s internal memorandums on a particular subject be produced in Word™ format, while financial records be provided in an Excel™ spreadsheet format or other commonly used format for financial information. This provision also specifies that the requesting party cannot demand that the respondent provide the same information in more than one electronic format. If a party believes that the form or forms specified by an opponent is unduly burdensome or expensive, the party can object to the discovery under Rule 34(B)(1) and then negotiate a different, mutually acceptable form with the opponent or seek relief from the court under Rule 26(B)(4).
The remaining text of existing Civ.R. 34(B) is broken into subparts (1) and (2). This is solely a stylistic change intended to make the material more accessible.
Civ.R. 34(B)(1) requires the party responding to a request to specifically articulate its objection to the form of production of electronically stored information that the opponent has requested. It also requires a responding party to identify the form in which electronically stored information will be produced if the requesting party has not specified the format.
Civ.R. 34(B)(3) applies when a party does not specify the form in which electronically stored information should be produced; in that situation the responding party has the option of producing the materials in the form in which the information is ordinarily maintained or another form provided that the form produced is reasonable. This section also clarifies that the respondent only has to provide electronically stored information in one format unless the court orders or the parties agree to a different arrangement. Civ.R. 34(B)(3) is added to allow production of electronically stored information in more than one format if agreed to by the parties or ordered by the court.
Civ.R. 34(C) clarifies that discovery of electronically stored information from nonparties is governed by Rule 45.
Staff Note (July 1, 2017 Amendment)
Civ.R. 34(B) Service of requests for production
The rule is amended to permit service of requests for production on parties other than the plaintiff only after service of the summons and complaint upon that party and to disallow service of requests for production with service of the summons and complaint.
Staff Note (July 1, 2019 Amendment)
Division (B)
Division (B) of the rule is amended to include a requirement that the party serving this form of discovery requests include an electronic copy in a word-processing format. This requirement is already found in Civ.R. 33(A) and Civ.R. 36(A) for interrogatories and requests for admissions, respectively. Its inclusion here recognizes the reality that practitioners typically respond to this form of discovery requests in writing in addition to any accompanying responsive materials.
Plain-English Summary
Division (A) lets any party serve on any other party a request to inspect and copy designated documents or electronically stored information, to inspect, copy, test, or sample tangible things, or to enter onto land or other property in that party's possession or control for inspection, measuring, surveying, photographing, testing, or sampling -- all subject to the scope-of-discovery limits in Rule 26(B). Division (B) lets the request be served on the plaintiff once the action begins and on any other party once served with the summons and complaint, without leave of court; it must describe each item or category with reasonable particularity and specify a reasonable time, place, and manner for the inspection, and it may specify the form for producing electronically stored information, though it can't demand the same information in more than one form. The responding party must serve a written response within at least twenty-eight days stating, for each item or category, that the requested inspection will be permitted or stating the grounds for any objection, including an objection to a specified form for electronically stored information; a party who produces documents may organize them as kept in the ordinary course of business or label them to match the categories requested, and if no form was specified for electronically stored information, the responding party may produce it in a reasonably usable form.
Division (C) subjects a non-party to the same kind of compelled production or inspection, but through the subpoena procedure of Rule 45 rather than a direct request. Division (D) adds a pre-suit discovery petition: someone who believes they have a potential cause of action, and who has already made reasonable efforts to get the information voluntarily, may file a verified petition in the county where the person from whom discovery is sought resides, does business, or where the potential action could be filed. The petition must describe the potential claim and the petitioner's interest in it, the efforts already made to obtain the information voluntarily, the information sought with reasonable particularity, the names and addresses of any expected adverse parties, and a request for court authorization to obtain the discovery. It must be served like a summons on the person from whom discovery is sought and on any expected adverse party, and the court must authorize the discovery if it finds the discovery necessary to identify a potential adverse party, that the petitioner can't otherwise bring the contemplated action, and that the petitioner made reasonable efforts to get the information voluntarily first.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can a party demand under Rule 34?
Inspection and copying of documents or electronically stored information, inspection, copying, testing, or sampling of tangible things, and entry onto land or property for inspection, measuring, surveying, photographing, testing, or sampling.
How does a party get documents from someone who isn't a party to the case?
Through a subpoena under Rule 45 rather than a Rule 34 request, since Rule 34 requests can only be served on parties.
Can someone use Rule 34 before filing a lawsuit?
Yes, if they can't otherwise bring the contemplated action and have already tried to get the information voluntarily. Rule 34(D) lets that person file a verified petition asking the court to authorize limited pre-suit discovery, most often to identify a potential defendant.
Source & verification. The rule text, Effective Date, Amended dates, and Staff Notes are reproduced verbatim from the
official Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure (Ohio R. Civ. P. 34). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio (Ohio Constitution, Art. IV, § 5(B)). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 1, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as:request for productiondocument requestspre-suit discovery petitionentry upon land