Section 166.228  Admissions

a)         At least 21 days prior to a hearing, a party may serve on any other party a written request for the admission of the truth of any specified relevant fact or for admission of the genuineness of any relevant documents described in the request.  Copies of the documents shall be served with the request unless copies have already been furnished.

b)         Each of the matters of fact and the genuineness of each document of which admission is requested is admitted unless, within 7 days after service thereof, the party to whom the request is directed serves upon the party requesting the admission either:

1)         A sworn statement denying specifically the matters of which admission is requested or setting forth in detail the reasons why those matters cannot be truthfully admitted or denied; or

2)         Written objections on the ground that some or all of the requested admissions are privileged or irrelevant or that the request is otherwise improper in whole or in part.

c)         If written objections to part of the request are made, the remainder of the request shall be answered within 7 days after service of the request.  If only part of the request can be answered as true or the request for admission requires qualification of a matter, the party shall specify the part that is true and deny the remainder.

d)         Any objections to a request or to an answer shall be heard by the Hearing Officer upon motion of the party making the request.  The Hearing Officer shall grant the motion for good cause such as the admission has already been made or the admission for a privileged fact.