Tennessee discovery deadlines: 30 days, 45 if you are the defendant
Tennessee procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026
Tennessee uses 30 days across all three written discovery devices, with 45 days available to a defendant counted from service of the summons and complaint. The numbers are conventional. What is worth knowing is a smaller provision inside Rule 33 that changes how objections have to be written.
The three deadlines
| Discovery device | Rule | Time to respond | Defendant's alternative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interrogatories | Rule 33.01 | 30 days | 45 days from service of the summons and complaint |
| Document requests | Rule 34.02 | 30 days | 45 days from service of the summons and complaint |
| Requests for admission | Rule 36.01 | 30 days | a shorter or longer time the court allows |
The 45-day period is a floor measured from a different event, not an extension. A defendant served with discovery alongside the complaint gets 45 days from that date; a defendant served with it months later gets 30 from the request. Take whichever is later.
Interrogatories, and the objection rule
Tenn. R. Civ. P. 33.01:
Each interrogatory shall be answered separately and fully in writing under oath, unless an objection is made to it or to a portion thereof, in which event the reasons and grounds for objection shall be stated with specificity in lieu of an answer for that portion to which an objection is made. An objection must clearly indicate whether responsive information is being withheld on the basis of that objection.
That last sentence is the one to plan around, and it changes ordinary practice.
A boilerplate objection is not enough. The reasons and grounds have to be stated with specificity, and only for the portion actually objected to.
And you must say whether you are withholding anything. An objection that leaves the requesting party guessing whether documents or information exist behind it does not comply. If you object and produce everything anyway, say so. If you object and hold something back, say that too.
This is the same reform the federal rules adopted for document requests, applied in Tennessee to interrogatories. The purpose is to stop objections from functioning as a silent refusal.
The deadline, from the same rule:
The party upon whom the interrogatories have been served shall serve a copy of the answers, and objections if any, within 30 days after the service of the interrogatories, except that a defendant may serve answers or objections within 45 days after service of the summons and complaint upon that defendant. The court may allow a shorter or longer time.
Note that answers are signed by the person making them and objections by the attorney making them — two different signatures on one document.
Document requests: 30 days, 45 for a defendant
Tenn. R. Civ. P. 34.02:
The party upon whom the request is served shall serve a written response within 30 days after the service of the request, except that a defendant may serve a response within 45 days after service of the summons and complaint upon that defendant. The court may allow a shorter or longer time. The response shall state, with respect to each item or category, that inspection and related activities will be permitted as requested, unless the request is objected to …
The structure mirrors Rule 33: item by item, permit or object, and state the reasons where you object.
Requests for admission: 30 days, and silence admits
Tenn. R. Civ. P. 36.01:
Each matter of which an admission is requested shall be separately set forth. The matter is admitted unless, within 30 days after service of the request, or within such shorter or longer time as the court may allow, the party to whom the request is directed serves upon the party requesting the admission a written answer or objection addressed to the matter, signed by the party or by the party's attorney …
Automatic, and unforgiving. There is no motion to bring and no order to await. Thirty days pass and the matter is admitted — removed from the case rather than merely weighed in it.
Note that admissions carry no separate 45-day defendant period in the same form as Rules 33 and 34; the rule provides instead for the court to allow a shorter or longer time, and Rule 36.01 addresses service on a party together with the summons and complaint.
Calendar admissions first. They usually arrive in the same envelope as interrogatories and look like the smaller job, and they are the only one of the three where doing nothing decides the issue against you.
What to do when the deadline is tight
Ask before the period runs. All three rules let the court allow a longer time, and a request made in advance is treated far better than an explanation afterwards.
Answer what you can, object specifically to the rest, and say what you are withholding. That last step is required by Rule 33.01 and it is good practice under Rule 34 as well.
And do not let an admission deadline pass while you negotiate. If you cannot answer in time, serve an objection or ask the court — silence is an answer here, and it is the wrong one.
Rule 37 governs sanctions for failing to make or cooperate in discovery, with a range running from expenses through to dispositive relief.
How Tennessee compares
| Tennessee | Kentucky | Missouri | Federal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interrogatories | 30 days | — | 30 days | 30 days |
| Document requests | 30 days | — | 30 days | 30 days |
| Requests for admission | 30 days | — | 30 days | 30 days |
| Defendant's alternative | 45 days from service | — | 45 days from appearance or service | after the Rule 26(f) conference |
| Objection must state what is withheld | yes, interrogatories | — | — | yes, document requests |
| Objections must be specific | yes | — | — | yes |
| Separate signatures for answers and objections | yes | — | — | yes |
A short checklist
- Calendar 30 days for interrogatories, document requests and admissions alike.
- If you are the defendant, check the 45-day floor — 45 days from service of the summons and complaint, or 30 from the request, whichever is later.
- Answer interrogatories under oath, separately and fully.
- Make objections specific. State the reasons and grounds, and only for the portion you are objecting to.
- Say whether you are withholding anything. Rule 33.01 requires the objection to indicate it clearly.
- Get both signatures right — the party signs the answers, the attorney signs the objections.
- Treat requests for admission as the urgent pile. Missing 30 days admits the matter automatically.
- Ask the court for more time before the period expires, not after.
Where these rules live
- Tenn. R. Civ. P. 26 — General Provisions Governing Discovery
- Tenn. R. Civ. P. 33 — Interrogatories to Parties
- Tenn. R. Civ. P. 34 — Production of Documents and Things and Entry Upon Land
- Tenn. R. Civ. P. 36 — Requests for Admission
- Tenn. R. Civ. P. 37 — Failure to Make or Cooperate in Discovery: Sanctions
This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and the discovery cut-off in any particular case is set by the court's scheduling order rather than by the rules reproduced here.