1-614. Civil investigative demand.

(a) A civil investigative demand is an administrative subpoena. Whenever the Attorney General has reason to believe that a person has information or is in possession, custody, or control of any document or other object relevant to an investigation or that would lead to the discovery of relevant information in an investigation of a violation of G.S. 1-607, the Attorney General may issue in writing and cause to be served upon the person, before bringing or intervening or making an election in an action under G.S. 1-608 or other false claims law, a civil investigative demand requiring the person to produce any documents or objects for their inspection and copying.

(b) The civil investigative demand shall comply with all of the following:

(1) Be served upon the person in the manner required for service of process in civil actions and may be served by the Attorney General or investigator assigned to the North Carolina Department of Justice.

(2) Describe the nature of the conduct constituting the violation under investigation.

(3) Describe the class or classes of any documents or objects to be produced with sufficient definiteness to permit them to be fairly identified.

(4) Prescribe a reasonable date and time at which the person shall produce any document or object.

(5) Advise the person that objections to or reasons for not complying with the demand may be filed with the Attorney General on or before that date and time.

(6) Designate a person to whom any document or object shall be produced.

(7) Contain a copy of subsections (b) and (c) of this section.

(c) The date within which any document or object must be produced shall be more than 30 days after the civil investigative demand has been served upon the person.

(d) A civil investigative demand may include an express demand for any product of discovery. A product of discovery includes the original or duplicate of any deposition, interrogatory, document, thing, examination, or admission, that is obtained by any method of discovery in any judicial or administrative proceeding of an adversarial nature, and any digest, compilation, and index of any product of discovery. Whenever a civil investigative demand is an express demand for any product of discovery, a copy of the demand shall be served on the person from whom the discovery was obtained, and the Attorney General shall notify the person to whom the demand is issued of the date on which the copy was served. A demand for a product of discovery shall not be returned or returnable until 30 days after a copy of the demand has been served on the person from whom the discovery was obtained. Within 30 days after service of the demand, the person from whom the discovery was obtained or the person on whom the demand was served will serve on the Attorney General a copy of any protective order that prevents or restrains disclosure of the product of discovery to the Attorney General. The Attorney General may petition the court that issued the protective order to modify the order to allow compliance with the demand. Disclosure of any product of discovery pursuant to any express demand does not constitute a waiver of any right or privilege that the person making the disclosure may be entitled to invoke to resist discovery of trial preparation materials.

(e) The production of documents and objects in response to a civil investigative demand served under this section shall be made under a sworn certificate by the person to whom the demand is directed, or in the case of a person other than a natural person, a person having knowledge of the facts and circumstances relating to the production and authorized to act on behalf of the person. The certificate shall state that all of the documentary material required by the demand and in the possession, custody, or control of the person to whom the demand is directed has been produced and made available. Upon written agreement between the person served with the civil investigative demand and the Attorney General, the person may substitute copies for originals of all or any part of the documents requested.

(f) If a person objects to or otherwise fails to comply with a civil investigative demand served upon the person under subsection (a) of this section, the Attorney General may file an action in superior court for an order to enforce the demand. Venue for the action to enforce the demand shall be in either Wake County or the county in which the person resides, is found, or transacts business. Notice of a hearing on the action to enforce the demand and a copy of the action shall be served upon the person in the same manner as prescribed in the Rules of Civil Procedure. If the court finds that the demand is proper, that there is reasonable cause to believe that there may have been a violation of G.S. 1-607, and that the information sought or document or object demanded is relevant to the violation, the court shall order the person to comply with the demand, subject to modifications the court may prescribe.

(g) If the person fails to comply with an order entered pursuant to subsection (f) of this section, the court may do any of the following:

(1) Adjudge the person to be in contempt of court.

(2) Grant injunctive relief against the person to whom the demand is issued to restrain the conduct which is the subject of the investigation.

(3) Grant any other relief as the court may deem proper.

(h) A petition for an order of the court to modify or set aside a civil investigative demand issued under this section may be filed by any person who has received a civil investigative demand or in the case of an express demand for any product of discovery, the person on whom the discovery was obtained. The petition may be filed in superior court in either Wake County or the county in which the person resides, is found, or transacts business, or, in the case of a petition to modify an express demand for any product of discovery, the petition shall be filed in the court in which the proceeding was pending when the product of discovery was obtained. Any petition under this subsection must be filed within 30 days after the date of service of the civil investigative demand or before the return date specified in the demand, whichever date is earlier, or within a longer period as may be prescribed in writing by the investigator identified in the demand. The petition shall specify each ground upon which the petitioner relies in seeking relief and may be based upon any failure to comply with the provisions of this section or upon any constitutional or other legal right or privilege of the person. During the pendency of the petition in the court, the court may stay, as it deems proper, the running of the time allowed for compliance with the demand, in whole or in part, except that the person filing the petition shall comply with any portions of the demand not sought to be modified or set aside.

(i) Any documents and objects produced pursuant to this section may be used in connection with any civil action brought under G.S. 1-608 and for any use that is consistent with the law, and the regulations and policies of the Attorney General, including use in connection with internal Attorney General memoranda and reports; communications between the Attorney General and a federal, State, or local governmental agency, or a contractor of a federal, State, or local governmental agency, undertaken in furtherance of an Attorney General investigation or prosecution of a case; interviews of any qui tam relator or other witness; oral examinations; depositions; preparation for and response to civil discovery requests; introduction into the record of a case or proceeding applications, motions, memoranda, and briefs submitted to a court or other tribunal; and communications with government investigators, auditors, consultants and experts, the counsel of other parties, arbitrators and mediators, concerning an investigation, case, or proceeding. Any documents and objects obtained by the Attorney General under this section may be shared with any qui tam relator if the Attorney General determines it is necessary as part of any false claims act investigation. Before using or sharing documents and objects obtained by the Attorney General under this section with any person, the Attorney General may require that the person agree to an order of the court protecting the documents or objects, or any information contained in the documents or objects, from disclosure by that person. In the case of documents or objects the producing party has designated as a trade secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial information, the Attorney General shall either (i) require that the person with whom documents or objects are shared be prohibited from disclosing the documents or objects, or any information contained in the documents or objects, or (ii) petition the court for an order directing the producing party to either appear and support the designation or withdraw the designation.

(j) The Attorney General may designate an employee of the North Carolina Department of Justice to serve as a custodian of documents and objects.

(k) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no documents or objects, or copies thereof, while in the possession of the North Carolina Department of Justice, shall be available for examination by any person other than an employee of the North Carolina Department of Justice. The prohibition in the preceding sentence on the availability of documents or objects shall not apply if consent is given by the person who produced the documents or objects, or, in the case of any product of discovery produced pursuant to an express demand, consent is given by the person from whom the discovery was obtained, or prevent disclosure to any other federal or State agency for use by that agency in furtherance of its statutory responsibilities upon application made by the Attorney General to the superior court showing substantial need for the use of the documents or objects by any agency in furtherance of its statutory responsibilities.

(l) While in the possession of the custodian and under reasonable terms and conditions as the Attorney General shall prescribe, documents or objects shall be available for examination by the person who produced the documents or objects, or by a representative of that person authorized by that person to examine the documents or objects.

(m) If any documents or objects have been produced by any person in the course of any investigation pursuant to a civil investigative demand under this section, and any case or proceeding before any court arising out of the investigation, or any proceeding before any agency involving the documents or objects, has been completed, or no case or proceeding in which the documents or objects may be used has been commenced within a reasonable time after completion of the investigation, the custodian shall, upon written request of the person who produced the documents or objects, return to the person any documents or objects that have not passed into the control of any court or agency.

(n) The North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure shall apply to this section to the extent that the rules are not inconsistent with the provisions of this section.