Ohio Administrative Code › Title 4901 - Public Utilities Commission (PUCO) - Administration and Director › Chapter 4901-1 - Administrative Provisions and Procedure › Section 4901-1-21 - Depositions

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A) Any party to a
			 pending commission proceeding may take the testimony of any other party or
			 person, other than a member of the commission staff, by deposition upon oral
			 examination with respect to any matter within the scope of discovery set forth
			 in rule 4901-1-16 of the Administrative
			 Code. The attendance of witnesses and production of documents may be compelled
			 by subpoena as provided in rule
			 4901-1-25 of the Administrative
			 Code.
(B) Any party desiring to
			 take the deposition of any person upon oral examination shall give reasonable
			 notice in writing to the deponent, to all parties, and to the commission. The
			 notice shall state the time and place for taking the deposition and the name
			 and address of each person to be examined, if known, or if the name is not
			 known, a general description sufficient for identification. If a subpoena duces
			 tecum is to be served upon the person to be examined, a designation of the
			 materials to be produced thereunder shall be attached to or included in the
			 notice. Notice to the commission is made by filing a copy of the notice of
			 deposition provided to the person to be deposed or a copy of the subpoena in
			 the case file.
(C) If any party
			 shows that he or she was unable with the exercise of diligence to obtain
			 counsel to represent him or her at the taking of a deposition, the deposition
			 may not be used against such party.
(D) The commission, the legal director, the
			 deputy legal director, or an ALJ, in response to the filing
			 of a motion, may order that a deposition be recorded by other than stenographic
			 means, in which case the order will designate the manner of recording the deposition,
			 and may include provisions to assure that the recorded testimony will be
			 accurate and trustworthy. If such an order is made, any party may arrange to
			 have a stenographic transcription made at his or her own expense.
(E) The notice to a party deponent may be
			 accompanied by a request, made in compliance with rule
			 4901-1-20 of the Administrative
			 Code, for the production of documents or tangible things at the taking of the
			 deposition.
(F) A party may in the
			 notice and in a subpoena name a corporation, partnership, association,
			 government agency, or municipal corporation and designate with reasonable
			 particularity the matters on which examination is requested. The organization
			 so named shall choose one or more of its officers, agents, employees, or other
			 persons duly authorized to testify on its behalf, and shall set forth, for each
			 person designated, the matters on which he or she will testify. The persons so
			 designated shall testify as to matters known or reasonably available to the
			 organization.
(G) Depositions may
			 be taken before any person authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the
			 jurisdiction in which the deposition is taken, or before any person appointed
			 by the commission. Unless all of the parties expressly agree otherwise, no
			 deposition may be taken before any person who is a relative,
			 employee, or attorney of any party, or a relative or employee of such
			 attorney.
(H) The person before
			 whom the deposition is to be taken shall put the witness
			 
								under oath
			 or affirmation, and shall personally or by someone acting under his direction
			 and in his presence record the testimony of the witness. Examination and
			 cross-examination may proceed as permitted in commission hearings. The
			 testimony shall be recorded stenographically or by any other means ordered
			 under paragraph (D) of this rule. If requested by any of the parties, the
			 testimony shall be transcribed at the expense of the party making the
			 request.
(I) All objections made at
			 the time of the examination to the qualifications of the officer taking the
			 deposition, or to the manner of taking it, or to the evidence presented, or to
			 the conduct of any party, and any other objection to the proceedings shall be
			 noted by the officer upon the deposition. Evidence objected to shall be taken
			 subject to the objections. In lieu of participating in the oral examination,
			 parties may serve written questions in a sealed envelope upon the party taking
			 the deposition, who shall transmit them to the officer
								to propound them to the witness and record the answers
			 verbatim.
(J) At any time during
			 the taking of a deposition, the commission, the legal director, the deputy
			 legal director, or the ALJ, in response to a motion of
			 any party or the deponent and upon a showing that the examination is being
			 conducted in bad faith or in such a manner as to unreasonably annoy, embarrass,
			 or oppress the deponent or party, may order the person conducting the
			 examination to cease taking the deposition, or may limit the scope and manner
			 of taking the deposition as provided in rule
			 4901-1-24 of the Administrative
			 Code. Upon demand of the objecting party or deponent, the taking of the
			 deposition shall be suspended for the time necessary to make a motion for such
			 an order.
(K) If and when the
			 testimony is fully transcribed, the deposition shall be submitted to the
			 witness for examination and shall be read to or by him or her, unless such
			 examination and reading are expressly waived by the witness and the parties.
			 Any changes in form or substance that the witness desires to make
			 may be
			 entered upon the deposition by the officer with a statement of the reasons
			 given by the witness for making the changes. The deposition shall then be
			 signed by the witness unless the signing is expressly waived by the parties or
			 the witness is ill or cannot be found or refuses to sign. If the deposition is
			 not signed by the witness within ten days after its submission to him or her,
			 the officer shall sign it and state on the record the fact of the waiver or the
			 illness or absence of the witness, or the fact of the refusal to sign together
			 with the reasons, if any, given for such refusal. The deposition may then be
			 used as fully as though signed, unless the commission, the legal director, the
			 deputy legal director, or the ALJ, upon motion to suppress,
			 holds that the reasons given for the refusal to sign require rejection of the
			 deposition in whole or in part.
(L)
			 The officer shall certify on the deposition that the witness was duly sworn by
			 him or her and that the deposition is a true record of the testimony given by
			 the witness. Upon payment of reasonable charges therefor, the officer shall
			 furnish a copy of the deposition to any party or to the deponent.
(M) Documents and things produced for
			 inspection during the examination of the witness shall, upon request of any
			 party, be marked for identification and annexed to the deposition, except that:
(1) The person producing the materials may
			 substitute copies to be marked for identification, if all parties are afforded
			 a fair opportunity to verify the copies by comparison with the
			 originals,
(2) If the person
			 producing the materials requests their return, the officer shall mark them,
			 give each party an opportunity to inspect and copy them, and return them to the
			 person producing them, and the materials may then be used in the same manner as
			 if annexed to the deposition.