New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE › Chapter 25 - ADMINISTRATION AND USE OF WATER - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Part 2 - HEARINGS UNIT PROCEDURES › Section 19.25.2.17 - DISCOVERY

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
No discovery shall be had on the state engineer, a hearing
				  examiner, or ADR officer in proceedings before the hearings unit. The hearings
				  unit favors prompt and complete disclosure and exchange of information and
				  encourages informal arrangements among the parties for this exchange.
A. Types of discovery. Discovery shall
				include all depositions, written interrogatories, requests for production of
				documents, and requests for admissions. Parties shall have the right to take
				the testimony of any witnesses by deposition and may seek a subpoena for the
				attendance of witnesses and the production of documents or records. Parties
				shall make a good-faith effort to obtain public records through the relevant
				agency's open records process prior to requesting production of such documents
				from other parties.
B. Filing and
				service, and limitations. Discovery requests and responses, or objections
				thereto, and deposition transcripts, shall not be routinely filed with the
				hearings unit; provided however that the party making a discovery request shall
				file a certificate of service with the hearings unit. Interrogatories, requests
				for production or inspection of documents, requests for admissions and other
				written discovery requests shall be served upon the party to which such
				discovery is directed and all other parties requesting such service. Any given
				discovery request shall be limited to no more than a total of 50
				interrogatories, requests for production of documents, and requests for
				admissions, including subparts, which shall be separately counted toward the
				limit of 50. Parties desiring copies of the written discovery materials of
				other parties may request copies from either party, subject to the requesting
				party's agreement to pay the reasonable costs of reproduction.
C. Responses, objections and supplementation.
				Written answers or responses to discovery requests shall be served within 30
				days of service of the discovery requests, unless otherwise directed by the
				hearing examiner or agreed to by the parties. Written answers or responses to
				discovery requests shall be verified by the person providing the answer or
				response. Objections shall identify the request objected to and shall state
				with particularity the factual and legal basis for the objections, and the
				response to the request shall be deferred until a determination has been made
				on such objections. A party who has responded to a request for discovery shall
				reasonably and promptly amend or supplement a previous response if he
				subsequently obtains information which would have been responsive if the
				information had been available at the time the response was served.
D. Motions to compel. Parties are expected to
				engage in discovery in good faith for the purpose of fair and efficient
				presentation of evidence at hearing, and they are expected to make every good
				faith effort to resolve discovery disputes informally. A party may move for an
				order compelling discovery only if the movant has made a good faith effort to
				resolve the dispute and was unable to do so. Any motion for an order compelling
				discovery shall document the good faith efforts taken by the movant to resolve
				the dispute, and shall include copies or complete restatements of the discovery
				requests or notices to which the movant seeks compelled responses, along with
				copies of any responses or objections to the subject discovery requests or
				notices, and any other pertinent materials.
E. Order for protection of parties, or
				witnesses. The hearing examiner may issue such orders for the protection of
				parties or witnesses from annoyances, embarrassment, or oppression as may be
				just and proper under the circumstances. If the hearing examiner determines
				that a party has not acted in good faith in propounding, undertaking,
				responding to, or otherwise participating in the discovery process, the order
				may include, but is not limited to, the exclusion of evidence, limitation of
				issues, or dismissal of a party.