(a) Scope. Any party may serve on any other party a request within the scope of Rule 26(b):
(1) To produce and permit the party making the request, or someone acting on the party's behalf, to inspect, copy, test, or sample the following items in the responding party's possession, custody or control:
(A) 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 either directly or, if necessary, after translation, by the responding party into a reasonably usable form or format; or
(B) Any designated tangible thing.
(2) To permit entry upon designated land or other property possessed or controlled by the responding party, so that the requesting party may inspect, measure, survey, photograph, test, or sample the property or any designated object or operation thereon.
(1) The request 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, complaint, Language Assistance Notice, and all other required documents upon that party. The request shall set forth the items to be inspected, copied, tested, or sampled either by individual item or by category, and describe each item and category with reasonable particularity. A party requesting production of electronically stored information may specify the format in which each type of electronically stored information is to be produced. The request shall specify a reasonable time, place, and manner of making the inspection, copy, test, or sample.
(2) The party upon whom the request is served shall serve a written response within forty (40) days after the service of the request, except that a defendant may serve a response within sixty (60) days after service of the summons, complaint, Language Assistance Notice, and all other required documents upon that defendant. The court may allow a shorter or longer time. The response shall state, with respect to each item or category, that inspection, copying, testing, or sampling will be permitted as requested, unless the request is objected to, 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 and inspection, copying, testing, or sampling permitted of the remaining parts. Any response to a request for production of any electronically stored information shall also state, with respect to each item or category in the request:
(A) That inspection, copying, testing, or sampling of the information will be permitted as requested; or
(B) Any objection to the request and the reasons for the objection.
(3) A party who produces documents shall produce them as they are kept in the usual course of business or shall organize and label them to correspond with the categories in the request.
(4) If a party responding to a request for production of electronically stored information objects to a specified format for producing the information, or if a format is not specified in the request, the responding party shall state in the response the format for production of each type of electronically stored information. Unless the parties otherwise agree or the court otherwise orders:
(A) If a request for production does not specify a format for producing a type of electronically stored information, the responding party shall produce the information in a format in which it is ordinarily maintained or in a format that is reasonably usable; and
(B) A party need not produce the same electronically stored information in more than one format.
(5) The party submitting the request may move for an order under Rule 37(a) with respect to any objection to or other failure to respond to the request or any part thereof, or any failure to permit inspection, copying, testing, or sampling as requested.
(c) Persons Not Parties. A person not a party to the action may be compelled to produce documents and things or to submit to an inspection as provided in Rule 45.
Rhode Island does not publish a per-rule amendment history inside the compiled rules text reproduced here. The text above is verified current through the source’s own February 2024 printing; for the underlying adopting orders and any later amendments, see the Rhode Island Judiciary’s compiled rules page.
Rule 34 covers two related requests: the demand to produce documents, electronically stored information, or physical items for inspection, copying, testing, or sampling, and the demand to enter someone’s land or property to inspect, measure, photograph, or test it. Either request must stay within the broad scope of discovery set out in Rule 26(b), and it can go to the plaintiff as soon as the case starts or to any other party once that party has been served.
The request has to describe each item or category with reasonable particularity, and it must specify a reasonable time, place, and manner for the inspection. For electronically stored information, the requesting party may also specify the format it wants — native files, PDFs, and so on. The responding party gets forty days to answer, except a defendant gets sixty days from being served with the summons and complaint. A response has to say, item by item, whether inspection will be permitted as requested or state the objection and the reason for it; if only part of an item is objectionable, the rest still has to be produced.
Electronically stored information carries a few extra rules. If the request does not specify a format, or the responding party objects to the one requested, the response must state what format will be used. Absent an agreement or court order, that format has to be one the information is ordinarily kept in or one that is reasonably usable, and a party never has to produce the same information twice in different formats. Documents produced generally must be turned over as they are kept in the ordinary course of business, or organized and labeled to match the categories requested.
If a party refuses to produce what was requested, or does not respond at all, the requesting party can ask the court for an order compelling compliance under Rule 37(a). And because Rule 34 only reaches parties, a person who is not a party but holds relevant documents or property can only be compelled to produce them or allow an inspection through a subpoena under Rule 45.