NOTE: Pursuant to R.S. 22:1931.13, this Section terminates on July 1, 2024.
§1931.10. Civil investigative demand
A. If the attorney general has information, evidence, or reason to believe that any
person or entity may be in possession, custody, or control of any documentary material or
information relevant to an investigation for a possible violation of this Part, he or any of his
assistants may issue to the person or entity a civil investigative demand before the
commencement of a civil proceeding to require the production of the documentary material
for inspection or copying or reproduction, or the answering under oath and in writing of
interrogatories. Any civil investigative demand issued pursuant to this Part shall state a
general description of the subject matter being investigated and the applicable provisions of
law constituting the alleged violation of this Part. A civil investigative demand for the
production of documentary material shall describe each class of documentary material to be
produced with such definiteness and certainty as to permit such material to be fairly
identified. A civil investigative demand for answers to written interrogatories shall set forth
with specificity the written interrogatories to be answered. Each investigative demand shall
set a return date of no earlier than twenty days after service of the demand upon the person
or his representative or agent.
B. A civil investigative demand issued pursuant to this Part may be served by the
sheriff or a P.O.S.T.-certified investigator employed by the attorney general or by the office
of state police when the demand is issued to a resident or a domestic business entity found
in this state. A civil investigative demand issued to a non-resident or a foreign business
entity may be served using long-arm jurisdiction as provided for in the Code of Civil
Procedure.
C. Upon failure to comply with the civil investigative demand, the attorney general
may apply to the district court having jurisdiction over the person to compel compliance with
the civil investigative demand.
D. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, no documentary material, answers
to interrogatories, or copies thereof, while in the possession of the attorney general or any
other agency assisting the attorney general with the matter under investigation, shall be
available for examination by any person or entity except as determined by the attorney
general and subject to any conditions imposed by him for effective enforcement of the laws
of this state. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit or limit the attorney
general from sharing any documentary material, answers to interrogatories, or copies thereof
with the United States government, any other state government, any federal or state agency,
or any person or entity that may be assisting in the investigation or prosecution of the subject
matter of the civil investigative demand.
E. The attorney general may use documentary material derived from information
obtained pursuant to this Section, or copies of that material, as the attorney general
determines necessary for the enforcement of the laws of this state, including presentation
before a court.
F. If any documentary material has been produced by any person or entity in the
course of any investigation pursuant to a civil investigative demand and any case or
proceeding before the court or grand jury arising out of such investigation, or any proceeding
before any state agency involving such material has been completed, or if no case or
proceeding in which such material may be used has been commenced within a reasonable
time after analysis of all documentary material and other information assembled in the course
of the investigation, the attorney general, upon written request of the person or entity who
produced the material, shall return to such person or entity any such material that has not
passed into the control of any court, grand jury, or agency through introduction into the
record of such case or proceeding.
G. "Documentary material" as used in this Section shall include but is not limited to
all electronically-stored information including writings, drawings, graphs, charts,
photographs, sound recordings, images, and other data or data compilations that would be
subject to a request for production under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 as it exists now
or is hereafter amended.
Acts 2012, No. 862, §1.