2019 -- H 6090

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE--COURTS -- SUPERIOR COURT

     Introduced By: Representatives Jackson, Corvese, Williams, Vella-Wilkinson, and
Maldonado

     Date Introduced: May 09, 2019

     Referred To: House Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 8-2-39.2 of the General Laws in Chapter 8-2 entitled "Superior

Court" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     8-2-39.2. Drug court magistrate -- Appointment, duties and powers Rhode Island

superior court adult drug/recovery court magistrate -- Appointment, duties and powers.

     (a) For the purposes of this chapter:

     (1) "Non-violent" means and includes all charges that are not crimes of violence, the

following being a list of all charges considered to be crimes of violence for the purposes of this

section: murder, manslaughter, first-degree arson, kidnapping with intent to extort, robbery, first-

degree sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault, first- and second-degree child molestation,

assault, assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to rob, assault with intent to commit

first-degree sexual assault, entering a dwelling house with intent to commit murder, robbery, or

sexual assault.

     (2) "Drug-addicted person" means a person who exhibits a maladaptive pattern of

behavior resulting from drug use, including one or more of the following: impaired control over

drug use; compulsive use; and/or continued use despite harm, and craving.

     (b) There is hereby created within the superior court the position of drug superior court

adult drug/recovery court magistrate who shall be appointed by the presiding justice of the

superior court with the advice and consent of the senate. The persons appointed to serve as drug

superior court adult drug/recovery court magistrates shall be members of the bar of Rhode Island.

The powers and duties of the drug superior court adult drug/recovery court magistrate shall be

prescribed in the order appointing him or her in addition to those described herein.

     The drug superior court adult drug/recovery court magistrate's term shall be ten (10)

years and until a successor is appointed and qualified. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a drug

superior court adult drug/recovery court magistrate from being reappointed for additional ten-year

(10) terms by the presiding justice of the superior court with the advice and consent of the senate.

He or she shall receive a salary equivalent to that received by the special magistrate assigned to

the superior court. The drug superior court adult drug/recovery court magistrate shall preside over

the adult drug superior court adult drug/recovery court. The adult drug superior court adult

drug/recovery court program shall combine the coercive powers of the court with a therapeutic

regimen in order to rehabilitate drug addicted defendants.

     (c) The drug superior court adult drug/recovery court magistrate shall be empowered to

hear and decide as a superior court justice all matters relating to those adult offenders who come

before the jurisdiction of the superior court on any offense relating to the offender's participation

in the adult drug superior court adult drug/recovery court. In addition, the drug superior court

adult drug/recovery court magistrate shall have the power to impose a period of incarceration

upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, and also have the power to confine any person who has

been found to be in violation of any conditions previously imposed by the superior court.

     (d) The drug superior court adult drug/recovery court magistrate shall make the final

determination as to whether a defendant is admitted into the program. Individuals meeting the

following criteria shall be screened by staff working at the office of the attorney general upon the

department's own referral; upon a request by counsel entered on behalf of a defendant; upon

request by a judge of the superior or district court, or, in the case of a person waivable by the

family court, by a judge of that court; or the department of corrections for admittance into the

adult drug superior court adult drug/recovery court:

     (1) The individual is charged with or convicted of an alcohol- or drug-related offense or

with an appropriate non-violent offense.

     (2) The individual has no pending charges for felony crimes of violence.

     (3) The individual has no pending charges for delivery of a controlled substance.

     (4) The defendant is a drug-addicted person.

     (e) All individuals accepted into drug superior court adult drug/recovery court will be

bound by a drug superior court adult drug/recovery court contract, as defined by the adult drug

superior court adult drug/recovery court, that sets forth the court's expectations; the role and

responsibilities of the drug superior court adult drug/recovery court; the conditions imposed upon

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and the responsibilities of the defendant; and the treatment plan goals and strategies. If a

defendant fails to abide by the drug superior court adult drug/recovery court conditions and

orders, he or she may be terminated from the program by the drug court judge superior court adult

drug/recovery court magistrate and sentenced as he or she deems appropriate.

     (f) The drug superior court adult drug/recovery court magistrate shall be empowered to

hear and decide as a superior court justice all matters that may come before the superior court

pursuant to chapter 37.1 of title 11 "sexual offender registration and community notification."

     (g) The drug superior court adult drug/recovery court magistrate and/or the presiding

justice of the superior court may fix the venue of any person who is before the superior court as a

participant in the adult drug superior court adult drug/recovery court or who is alleged to be a

sexual predator, and who has filed an objection to community notification.

     (h) In addition, at the discretion of the presiding justice of the superior court, the drug

superior court adult drug/recovery court magistrate shall have the duties, responsibilities, and

powers authorized in subsections 8-2-39(b), (c) and (d).

     (i) The drug superior court adult drug/recovery court magistrate shall be governed by the

commission on judicial tenure and discipline, chapter 16 of title 8, in the same manner as justices

and judges; shall be subject to all provisions of the canons of judicial ethics or code of judicial

conduct; and shall be subject to all criminal laws relative to judges by virtue of §§ 11-7-1 and 11-

7-2.

     (j) A party aggrieved by an order entered by the drug superior court adult drug/recovery

court magistrate shall be entitled to a review of the order by a justice of the superior court. Unless

otherwise provided in the rules of procedure of the court, such review shall be on the record and

appellate in nature. The superior court shall, by rules of procedure, establish procedures for

reviews of orders entered by a drug superior court adult drug/recovery court magistrate, and for

enforcement of contempt adjudications of a drug superior court adult drug/recovery court

magistrate.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE--COURTS -- SUPERIOR COURT

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     This act would change the name of the drug court magistrate to the "Rhode Island

superior court adult drug/recovery court magistrate and change the name of the court to the

"Rhode Island superior court adult drug/recovery court".

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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