§ 140B.053.Contents of Demand

The content rules, and they are the same in both racketeering chapters. What differs is how much rests on them here.

With many offices issuing demands under one template, the statutory contents are the only common standard. There is no shared review, no single set of internal guidelines, and a recipient in one county cannot assume the practice of another.

Every demand must do three things. Describe the nature of the activities that are the subject of the investigation. State each statute the activity violates. And advise the person served of the right to object as provided in this subchapter.

The naming of statutes is a real constraint on scope. The three Penal Code offenses each require a pattern of racketeering or the collection of an unlawful debt, and a demand must identify which is alleged — so the recipient can measure the material sought against the conduct claimed.

A document demand adds three requirements: the class of material described with reasonable specificity so that the material demanded is "fairly identified"; a return date allowing a reasonable period; and the individual to whom the material is to be made available.

An interrogatory demand adds three more: questions propounded with definiteness and certainty, a date for submitting answers, and the individual who receives them.

A testimony demand adds two: a reasonable date, time, and place at which the testimony will begin, and the individual who will conduct the examination.

Naming an individual in each case is more than administrative tidiness. It gives the recipient someone to negotiate a return date with, and it identifies who is responsible if the demand is challenged.