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Rule 34.03 Persons not Parties

Rule 34. Production of Documents and Things and Entry Upon Land for Inspection and Other Purposes

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Rule Text

As provided in Rule 45, a person not a party can be compelled to produce documents and tangible things or to permit an inspection.

Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)

This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.

Here's a plain English summary of this rule:

If you need documents, records, or other physical items from someone who isn't directly involved in your lawsuit, you can still get them. This rule points to Rule 45, which covers subpoenas, as the tool you use to make this happen.

In practice, this means a business, government office, or individual who has no stake in the case can still be legally required to hand over paperwork or let someone inspect items they have. For example, if you're suing over a car accident, you might need medical records from a hospital or repair records from an auto shop. Neither is a party to your case, but you can still get their records through a subpoena.

The key takeaway is that being a "non-party" doesn't protect someone from having to share relevant documents or evidence. The court can still order them to cooperate, just through a different legal process than the one used for the actual parties in the lawsuit.

Committee Notes

Advisory Commission Comments.

This Rule provides a method by which a party may obtain access to relevant material objects under the control of another party. This procedure has long been established in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. It has not had an exact equivalent in Tennessee procedure, although a somewhat similar procedure was authorized under T.C.A. §24-1101 et seq. [repealed].

34.01: The provisions of this rule [in 1984] permit a party to obtain documents which are subject to another party's effective control (e.g., medical records). [1984.]

34.02: A party responding to a request for production obviously must produce documents. To alleviate occasional abuses whereby a party will change the usual organization of files, the [1984] amendment requires either arrangement of records as kept in the course of business or rearrangement to track the request. [1984.]

34.03 [2009]: New Rule 34.03 replaces the earlier version, which mentioned an independent action for production or entry. The subpoena duces tecum procedure in Rule 45 is more efficient.

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Last updated: August 2026

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