Legislators and litigators alike hoped that revisions to the discovery rules would stop trial by ambush by mandating disclosures by each party to a case. Unfortunately, there are still many who either do not generate required disclosures or who simply disclose that they “rely on the claims set out in pleadings.” How can you access more records that might impact your case?  A few items to consider:

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) caseworker records, including texts, are to be maintained as part of their record-keeping, yet are rarely produced. Those texts can help cases involving parents who have been parties to Child Protective Services cases. It is possible to procure those texts, and related records, via a Deposition by Written Questions/Subpoena to the DFPS Records Custodian. The DFPS Records Management Handbook notes as follows:

“2000 Safekeeping of DFPS Records

Records Management Group 2016