TITLE THREE — PLEADINGS AND MOTIONS
Rule 12. Defenses and Objections
How Presented. Every defense, in law or fact, to a claim for relief in any pleading, whether a claim, counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim, shall be asserted in the responsive pleading thereto if one is required, except that the following defenses may at the option of the pleader be made by motion:
Lack of subject-matter jurisdiction;
Improper venue;
Insufficiency of process;
Insufficiency of service of process;
Failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted;
Pendency of a prior action in a court of the State of Ridgeway;
Lack of jurisdiction over the person;
A motion asserting any of these defenses shall be made before pleading if a responsive pleading is allowed. If a pleading sets out a claim for relief that does not require a responsive pleading, an opposing party may assert at trial any defense to that claim.
Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. After the pleadings are closed but within such time as not to delay the trial, any party may move for judgment on the pleadings. If, on a motion for judgment on the pleadings, matters outside the pleadings are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 38, and all parties shall be given a reasonable opportunity to present all material pertinent to such a motion. The same shall be done where matters outside the pleadings are presented to and not excluded by the court upon a motion under Rule 12(1)(5).
Motion to Strike. Upon motion made by a party before responding to a pleading or, if no responsive pleading is permitted by these rules, the court may after hearing order stricken from any pleading any insufficient defense, or any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter. The court may act upon its own initiative. A motion to strike a pleading or a part of it shall be made within forty-eight (48) hours after the pleading is served. The striking of matter from a pleading does not remove any document from the record; a filing once accepted remains upon the docket, and the order striking it governs its effect.
Time to Serve a Responsive Pleading. Unless another time is fixed by statute, by the summons, or by order of the court:
a defendant shall file an answer within seventy-two (72) hours after service of the summons and complaint under Rule 4;
where the State of Ridgeway, a county, a municipality, an agency or department thereof, or an officer sued in an official capacity is the defendant, the answer shall be filed within ninety-six (96) hours after service upon the Attorney General or the Solicitor General under 7 R. Stat. § 131.106, so that the Solicitor General may discharge the duty imposed by 7 R. Stat. § 122.005;
a party shall file an answer to a counterclaim or a cross-claim within forty-eight (48) hours after the pleading stating it is served;
a party shall file a reply to an answer within twenty-four (24) hours after being served with an order to reply, unless the order fixes a different time; and
a defendant served in an alternative manner ordered by the court shall answer within the time fixed by that order.
Effect of a Motion on the Time to Respond. Unless the court fixes a different time, the service of a motion under this rule alters the periods fixed by subdivision 4 as follows:
if the court denies the motion, or postpones its disposition until trial, the responsive pleading shall be filed within twenty-four (24) hours after notice of the court’s action; and
if the court grants a motion for a more definite statement, the responsive pleading shall be filed within twenty-four (24) hours after the more definite statement is served.
Motion for a More Definite Statement. A party may move for a more definite statement of a pleading to which a responsive pleading is allowed but which is so vague or ambiguous that the party cannot reasonably prepare a response. The motion shall be made before filing a responsive pleading and shall point out the defects complained of and the details desired. If the court orders a more definite statement and the order is not obeyed within twenty-four (24) hours after notice of the order, or within the time the court fixes, the court may strike the pleading or enter any other just order.
Joining Motions.
A motion under this rule may be joined with any other motion allowed by this rule, and no defense or objection is waived by joining it with one or more other defenses or objections in a responsive pleading or in a motion.
Except as Rule 12(8)(2) and (3) provide, a party that makes a motion under this rule shall not make another motion under this rule raising a defense or objection that was available to the party but omitted from the earlier motion.
Waiving and Preserving Certain Defenses.
A party waives the defenses listed in Rule 12(1)(2), (3), (4), (6), and (7) by omitting them from a motion in the circumstances described in Rule 12(7)(2), or by failing either to make them by motion under this rule or to include them in a responsive pleading or in an amendment allowed by Rule 16 as a matter of course.
Failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, failure to join a party required to be joined under Rule 17.1, and failure to state a legal defense to a claim may be raised in any pleading allowed or ordered under Rule 7(1), by a motion under Rule 12(2), or at trial.
If the court determines at any time that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction, the court shall dismiss the action.
Sovereign immunity under 7 R. Stat. § 122.002 is not waived by omission and may be raised at any time before judgment.
Hearing Before Trial. If a party so moves, any defense listed in Rule 12(1) and any motion under Rule 12(2) shall be heard and decided before trial, unless the court orders that the disposition be deferred until trial. A hearing under this subdivision is conducted as provided in Rule 7.1(11).
Effect of a Ruling. An order granting a motion under Rule 12(1)(5) or Rule 12(2) shall state whether the dismissal is with or without prejudice and, where without prejudice, whether leave to replead is granted and the period within which an amended pleading shall be filed. Where the court grants leave to replead, the amended pleading is filed under Rule 16 as a new filing bearing its own filing date; nothing in the record is amended or removed.