Arkansas Motion to Compel

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Start with the objections themselves, because in Arkansas they may already be defective. Rule 33(b)(4), as amended and effective June 4, 2026, provides that a blanket objection to a set of interrogatories will not be recognized, that all grounds must be made to the specific interrogatory or to a part of it if it is compound with the remaining parts fully answered, that it is not sufficient to state merely that the interrogatory is not relevant or proportional or is otherwise improper, that the grounds must be stated with particularity, and that any ground not stated in a timely objection is waived unless the failure is excused by the court for good cause shown. Rule 34(b)(2) carries the same four sentences for document requests and adds that an objection must also state whether any responsive materials are being withheld on the basis of that objection. The Reporter's Note records that the Rule 33(b)(4) amendment is modeled on the current version of Local Rule 33.1 of the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas.

2. 2

   The June 2026 package also added Rule 26(g), a certification provision written specifically for discovery, and it does real work. Under 26(g)(1) the signature of an attorney or party certifies that, to the best of the signatory's knowledge, information and belief formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances, a discovery request, response or objection is consistent with the rules and warranted by existing law, is not interposed for any improper purpose such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay or needlessly increase the cost of litigation, and is neither unreasonable nor unduly burdensome or expensive considering the needs of the case, prior discovery in the case, the amount in controversy, and the importance of the issues at stake. Rule 26(g)(2) then makes an unsigned paper close to void: other parties have no duty to act on an unsigned disclosure, request, response or objection until it is signed, and the court must strike it unless a signature is promptly supplied after the omission is called to attention.

3. 3

   Rule 37 was not touched by the 2026 package, so the motion itself still reads as it has since 2006. The authority is Rule 37(a)(2), captioned Motion, under the heading Motion for Order Compelling Discovery at Rule 37(a). It reaches a deponent who fails to answer a question under Rules 30 or 31, an entity that fails to make a designation under Rule 30(b)(6) or 31(a), a party that fails to answer a Rule 33 interrogatory, a party that in response to a Rule 34 request fails to respond that inspection will be permitted or fails to permit it, and a party that in response to a request under Rule 35(c) fails to provide an appropriate medical authorization. Rule 37(a)(3) adds that an evasive or incomplete answer or response is to be treated as a failure to answer or respond. Two numbering traps: Arkansas's fee provision is 37(a)(4), not 37(a)(5), and Arkansas's 37(e) is Failure to Supplement Responses rather than the federal electronically stored information rule.

4. 4

   Read both halves of Rule 37(a)(4) before filing, because they are not mirror images and the granted half is broader than most. Granted: if the motion is granted, or if the requested discovery is provided after the motion was filed, the court shall, after affording an opportunity to be heard, require the party or deponent whose conduct necessitated the motion, or the party or attorney advising such conduct, or both of them, to pay the moving party's reasonable expenses in making the motion including attorneys' fees. Note the late-compliance trigger: capitulation after you file still fires the mandatory award. The escapes are three, not two: that the motion was filed without the movant first making a good faith effort to obtain the discovery without court action, that the opposing party's response or objection was substantially justified, or that other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust. Denied: the court may enter any protective order authorized under Rule 26(c) and shall require the moving party or the attorney filing the motion or both of them to pay. So a denied motion can turn into an order against you.

5. 5

   One Arkansas carve-out overrides all of that. Rule 37(f), captioned Expenses Against State, provides that except to the extent permitted by statute, expenses and fees may not be awarded against the state of Arkansas under this rule. It is not one of the three escapes and it is not a discretionary factor; it is flat. So a litigant who wins a motion to compel against a state agency gets the order and, absent a statute, gets no expenses, even though 37(a)(4)(A) otherwise says the court shall award them. The federal rule has no equivalent provision.

6. 6

   Arkansas deliberately left discovery motions exposed to Rule 11, and said so in writing. Rule 11(d), added June 4, 2026, reads that the rule does not apply to disclosures and discovery requests, responses, and objections under Rules 26 through 37. Motions are conspicuously absent from that list, and the Reporter's Note explains the choice: the federal Rule 11(d) exempts discovery motions, discovery motions are not covered by the federal Rule 26(g) either, which creates a gap where they would be held to a lesser standard than any other filing, and the new Arkansas rule fills it by omitting motions from the exclusion. The practical effect is that the downside of an unfounded motion to compel in Arkansas is not capped at the other side's costs, because Rule 11(c)(1) is mandatory and its menu at 11(c)(2) runs past fees. A party seeking Rule 11 sanctions must move separately and must give a 21-day safe harbour under Rule 11(c)(5).

7. 7

   Count the clocks, because there are three and Rule 37 supplies none of them. The response period: 30 days from service of the interrogatories or request, except that a defendant must serve answers or objections within 30 days after service of the discovery upon him or within 45 days after the summons and complaint have been served upon him, whichever is longer, under Rules 33(b)(3), 34(b)(2) and 36(a). A shorter or longer time may be directed by the court or, absent an order, agreed to in writing by the parties subject to Rule 29. The motion-practice period: Rule 6(c) requires the written motion and the notice of its hearing to be served not later than 20 days before the time specified for the hearing, gives the opposing party 10 days after service of the motion to respond and the movant 5 days after the response to reply, with Rule 6(d) adding three business days where service is through the court's electronic filing system. And the deadline to move at all: there is none in the rules.

Arkansas Requirements for Motion to Compel

• Each Objection Tested Against the Particularity Rules Added June 4, 2026

  Quote Rule 33(b)(4) and Rule 34(b)(2) against the response you received. A blanket objection to a set of interrogatories or requests will not be recognized. All grounds must be made to the specific item, or to a part of it if it is compound, in which case the remaining parts shall be fully answered. It is not sufficient to state merely that the item is not relevant or proportional or is otherwise improper. The grounds must be stated with particularity. Any ground not stated in a timely objection is waived unless the failure is excused by the court for good cause shown, so grounds omitted from the objection cannot simply be supplied in opposition to your motion. On documents, Rule 34(b)(2) adds that an objection must state whether any responsive materials are being withheld on the basis of that objection.

• A Check That the Response Was Signed at All

  Rule 26(g)(1) requires every discovery request, response or objection to be signed by at least one attorney of record in his or her individual name, requires a self-represented person to sign, and requires the signatory to state an address, e-mail address and telephone number. Rule 26(g)(2) supplies the consequence: other parties have no duty to act on an unsigned disclosure, request, response, or objection until it is signed, and the court must strike it unless a signature is promptly supplied after the omission is called to the attorney's or party's attention. Because the cure defeats the striking, point the omission out in writing and keep that record. Rule 26(g)(3) separately lets the court sanction an improper certification on motion or on its own initiative.

• The Citation, With Arkansas's Subdivision Letters Rather Than the Federal Ones

  Cite Ark. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(2), captioned Motion, under the heading Motion for Order Compelling Discovery, and pair it with 37(a)(3), under which an evasive or incomplete answer or response is to be treated as a failure to answer or respond. Two letters differ from federal practice and both are visible errors if you get them wrong. Arkansas's fee provision is 37(a)(4), not 37(a)(5). And Arkansas's 37(e) is Failure to Supplement Responses, not the federal electronically stored information rule; Arkansas Rule 37 has no electronically stored information subdivision at all, and the Reporter's Notes record the omission of that section of the federal rule.

• Whether the Responding Party Is a Defendant, Because the Clock Then Has Two Branches

  Rules 33(b)(3), 34(b)(2) and 36(a) each give 30 days from service of the discovery, except that a defendant must respond within 30 days after service of the discovery upon him or within 45 days after the summons and complaint have been served upon him, whichever is longer. Arkansas permits discovery to be served on any party with or after service of the summons and complaint, so a defendant served with interrogatories attached to the complaint owes answers in 45 days from service of process rather than 30 from the request, and a motion filed on day 31 against such a defendant is premature. A shorter or longer time may be directed by the court or, absent an order, agreed to in writing by the parties subject to Rule 29.

• The Good Faith Statement, Which Is Also the First Bar to a Fee Award

  Rule 37(a)(2) requires that the motion include a statement that the movant has in good faith conferred or attempted to confer with the person or party failing to make the discovery in an effort to secure the information or material without court action. Two consequences follow, and the second is the one worth planning around. The statement is a required content of the motion, so a motion without it is defective on its face. And separately, Rule 37(a)(4)(A) makes the omission an express bar to the expense award, because the court must refuse it if it finds the motion was filed without the movant first making a good faith effort to obtain the discovery without court action. Rule 37(d) carries its own parallel statement requirement for a total-failure motion, and a Rule 26(g)(3) motion does too.

• The Expense Request, Its Late-Compliance Trigger, and the Three Bars to It

  Rule 37(a)(4)(A) provides that if the motion is granted, or if the requested discovery is provided after the motion was filed, the court shall, after affording an opportunity to be heard, require the party or deponent whose conduct necessitated the motion, or the party or attorney advising such conduct, or both of them, to pay the moving party's reasonable expenses incurred in making the motion including attorneys' fees. So production after filing still fires the award, and the filing date and the production date are what prove it. There are three bars rather than the usual two: that the movant did not first try to obtain the discovery without court action, that the response or objection was substantially justified, or that other circumstances make an award unjust. Under 37(a)(4)(B) a denied motion lets the court enter any protective order authorized under Rule 26(c) and requires the moving party or the attorney filing the motion or both to pay.

• Whether the Opponent Is the State of Arkansas, Which Removes the Expense Award Entirely

  Rule 37(f), captioned Expenses Against State, provides that except to the extent permitted by statute, expenses and fees may not be awarded against the state of Arkansas under this rule. This is a flat carve-out rather than one of the three escapes in 37(a)(4)(A), so it is not answered by showing the agency's position was unjustified and there is no discretion to argue about. The order compelling discovery is still available, and it is the relief that moves the case; what the rule will not give you against the State is the cost of having had to bring the motion. Whether a statute permits a fee award in a particular matter is outside what the rule text answers, and attorney review is available as an option on that question.

• Hearing Arithmetic Under Rule 6(c), and the Absence of Any Deadline to Move

  Rule 6(c) requires a written motion, other than one which may be heard ex parte, and notice of the hearing thereof to be served not later than 20 days before the time specified for the hearing, gives any party opposing the motion 10 days after service of the motion to respond, and gives the movant 5 days after service of the response to reply. Those periods may be modified by order of the court and do not apply where a different period is fixed by the rules. Rule 6(d) adds three business days where service is made through the court's electronic filing system. There is no deadline for bringing the motion itself: no Arkansas provision sets a day count or a trigger for moving to compel and none waives the right by delay, so the practical outside date is the discovery cutoff in your own case.