31
March
2021
|
06:00 AM
America/Chicago

Amendments to Supreme Court of Missouri rules on discovery

The Supreme Court of Missouri recently amended the Rules of Civil Procedure, resolving the status and effect of legislative amendments to certain discovery rules enacted in Senate Bill 224 in 2019. The amended rules will take effect Sept. 2, 2021.

In an order dated March 2, 2021, the Supreme Court of Missouri adopted the following amendments to the Rules of Civil Procedure:

  • A new subdivision 56.01, entitled “General Provisions Governing Discovery,” of Rule 56, entitled “General Provisions Governing Discovery;”
  • A new subdivision 57.01, entitled “Interrogatories to Parties;” a new subdivision 57.03, entitled “Depositions Upon Oral Examination;” and a new subdivision 57.04, entitled “Depositions Upon Written Questions;”
  • A new subdivision 58.01, entitled “Production of Documents and Things and Entry Upon Land for Inspection and Other Purposes,” of Rule 58, entitled “Production of Documents and Things and Entry Upon Land for Inspection and Other Purposes;”
  • A new subdivision 59.01, entitled “Request for and Effect of Admission,” of Rule 59, entitled “Admission of Facts and Genuineness of Documents;” and
  • A new subdivision 61.01, entitled “Failure to Make Discovery: Sanctions,” of Rule 61, entitled “Enforcement of Discovery: Sanctions.”

In 2019, pursuant to the authority granted in § 5 of Article V of the Missouri Constitution, the General Assembly approved House Committee Substitute for Senate Substitute #4 for Senate Bill 224 to amend certain Supreme Court rules relating to discovery. The governor signed the bill into law on July 10, 2019, and the new law took effect Aug. 28, 2019. Since September 2019, the published rules have been accompanied by a footnote stating: “SB 224 (2019) purports to amend Rules 25.03, 56.01, 57.01, 57.03, 57.04, 58.01, 59.01, and 61.01.”

In addition, the versions of Rules 56.01 and 58.01 amended in SB 224 were the versions in effect prior to July 1, 2019. In an order dated Oct. 15, 2018, the Supreme Court of Missouri adopted the following amendments to the Rules of Civil Procedure:

  • A new subdivision 56.01(c), entitled “Protective Orders,” and a new subdivision 56.01(g), entitled “Cooperative Discovery,” of Rule 56, entitled “General Provisions Governing Discovery;” and
  • A new subdivision 58.01(c), entitled “Response,” of Rule 58, entitled “Production of Documents and Things and Entry Upon Land for Inspection and Other Purposes.”

These new amendments took effect July 1, 2019.