Chapter 324
2012 -- S 2885 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 06/20/12
A N A C T
RELATING TO
STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- SHERIFFS
Introduced By: Senator Michael J. McCaffrey
Date Introduced: April 12, 2012
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Sections 42-29-1, 42-29-5, 42-29-11, 42-29-12, 42-29-14, 42-29-18, 42-29-
19, 42-29-22, 42-29-24,
42-29-25 and 42-29-26 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-29 entitled
"Sheriffs" are
hereby amended to read as follows:
42-29-1.
Appointment -- Powers and duties -- Removal. -- (a) The director of
the
department of public safety shall appoint, with the
consent of the governor, an executive high
sheriff to a ten (10) year term. The director of the department of public safety shall
also appoint to
each of the counties with the consent of the governor
the sheriffs and the chief deputy sheriffs to
ten (10) year terms. The director of the department of
public safety shall also appoint to each of
the counties with the consent of the governor the
sheriffs and the chief deputy sheriffs to ten (10)
year terms. The director of the department of public
safety shall appoint deputy sheriffs
and other
necessary classifications pursuant to rank
structure, subject to the appropriations process.
Sheriffs, chief deputy sheriffs, deputy Deputy sheriffs,
and other employees of the sheriff's
division shall be subject to the supervision of the chief/sheriff
appointed by the director of the
department of public safety executive high sheriff who may assign tasks
and functions in order to
ensure the proper management of the sheriffs’
division. Any deputy sheriff hired after July 1,
2001 must successfully complete the sheriff academy
and any courses deemed necessary at the
municipal police training academy prior to assuming
the duties of a deputy sheriff. Furthermore,
the executive high sheriff director of the
department of public safety in conjunction with the
personnel administrator shall be responsible for
promulgating written class specifications with
necessary minimum qualifications defined in them. The
sheriffs of the several counties who are in
office as of February 1, 2001 shall continue to hold
office until their present term expires.
Deputy
sheriffs Sheriffs and deputies can be removed for just
cause by their appointing authority.
(b) The executive
high sheriff, the sheriffs, the chief deputy sheriffs, and the All
deputy
sheriffs shall perform all the duties required and
exercise all the powers prescribed in this chapter;
chapter 15 of title 5; chapters 5 and 10 of title 9;
chapters 5, 10 and 14 of title 10; chapters 8, 31,
34, 36 and 44 of title 11; chapters 4, 5 and 6 of
title 12; chapter 22 of title 17; chapters 4 and 6 of
title 22; chapter 2 of title 28; chapter 6 of title
35; chapter 8 of title 37; and all other provisions of
the general laws and public laws insofar as those
powers and duties relate to the deputy sheriffs of
the several counties and as required and prescribed in all other provisions of the general
laws and
public laws relating to the powers and duties of the
sheriffs of the several counties.
(c) All resources of
the sheriffs shall be transferred to the division of sheriffs within the
department of public safety. These resources include,
but are not limited to, all positions,
property, accounts and other funding pertinent to
sheriffs.
(d) (1) Any reference
in the general laws to a chief/sheriff within the division of sheriffs
shall be deemed to mean a sworn member of the division
of sheriffs.
(2) Any reference in
the general laws to a member of the division of sheriffs shall be
deemed to mean a sworn deputy sheriff within the
division of sheriffs.
42-29-5. Record of
appointment of deputies. -- The appointment of every deputy shall
be in writing under the hand and seal of the sheriff,
and shall be lodged to be recorded in a book
to be kept for that purpose in the office of the clerk
of the superior court for the county for which
he or she is appointed, before he or she shall enter
on the duties of his or her office director
of the
department of public safety.
42-29-11. Bond of
deputies. -- Every deputy shall give bond with sufficient surety or
sureties to the sheriff appointing him or her director
of the department of public safety, in a sum
satisfactory to the sheriff director,
not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000), for the faithful
execution of his or her office according to law.
42-29-12. Action
on sheriff's bond. -- Any person injured by the breach of the bond of
any deputy sheriff may, after recovering
judgment against the deputy sheriff, his or her executors,
or administrators, in an action brought for the
default, misfeasance, or nonfeasance of such
deputy
sheriff or his or her deputy, cause a suit to be instituted upon the
bond, as set out in section
42-29-11, at
his or her own cost, in the name of the general treasurer, to his or her own
use.
42-29-14. Copies
of bonds as evidence. -- The general treasurer shall deliver an
attested
copy of the bond of any deputy sheriff,
to the director of the department of public safety every
sheriff and shall
deliver a copy of the bond of any deputy sheriff, filed in his or her office,
to any
person applying and paying the sum of one dollar
($1.00) for the same, and the copy shall be
received as evidence in any case, but if the execution
of the bond shall be disputed, the court may
order the original to be brought into court by a
proper subpoena for that purpose, to be served on
the general treasurer or deputy sheriff.
42-29-18. Power to
investigate and prosecute offenses. -- The sheriff of any county
may, whenever any offense shall have been committed in
his or her county, Any member of
the
division of sheriffs may investigate the same and apprehend and bring to
justice the person or
persons committing such offense, and may make
complaint in behalf of the state against such
person or persons and may prosecute said complaint to
final conviction.
42-29-19.
Attendance on general assembly and courts. -- (a) The director
of the
department of public safety or his or her designees
shall assign deputy sheriffs shall
to attend the
general assembly when in session. The sheriff of director
of the department of
public safety or his or her designee shall designate as sheriffs such number of
deputy sheriffs to
attend the session of the supreme court as the chief
justice or presiding justice of the superior,
district, family and workers’ compensation courts may request and any such deputy sheriff shall
be relieved of attendance at the request of the chief
justice or the presiding justice of the
applicable court. The sheriffs of the several counties shall, by themselves or their
deputies, attend
the session of the superior court held within their
respective counties and shall designate as
sheriffs such number of deputy sheriffs to attend the
session as the presiding justice of the
superior court may request. The sheriffs of the
several counties shall, by themselves or their
deputies, attend the sessions of the district court as
required by law.
(b) The sheriffs of
the several counties shall designate as sheriffs such number of deputy
sheriffs to attend such sessions of the family court
held within their respective counties as the
chief judge of the family court may request.
42-29-22.
Execution of writs and precepts. -- The A deputy sheriff of
every county, by
himself or herself or his or her deputy, shall serve and execute all writs and as directed,
within his
or her county or wherever he or she may be authorized by law, or by special order of
the court
issuing the writ or precept.
42-29-24. Service
of process on waters. -- Any deputy sheriff or other officer
duly
authorized may serve any writ or other process,
whether of a civil or criminal nature, within any
part of the waters of
from the seashore of the state at high-water mark.
42-29-25.
Assistance in execution of office. -- Every sheriff or deputy
sheriff, in the due
execution of his or her office, may command all
necessary aid and assistance in the execution
thereof; and every person who, whenever so required,
shall refuse or neglect to give aid and
assistance shall be fined not exceeding twenty dollars
($20.00).
42-29-26. Failure
to serve process. -- Every sheriff or deputy sheriff who shall
neglect
or refuse to serve any process issuing from lawful
authority, directed to him or her to serve and
execute (having in all civil causes, paid or tendered
unto him or her his or her legal fees, if he or
she demand the same, for serving and executing such process),
shall be liable to the party
aggrieved for such damages as he or she may have
sustained by such neglect or refusal.
SECTION
2. Sections 42-29-3, 42-29-6, 42-29-7, 42-29-8, 42-29-9, 42-29-13, 42-29-20,
42-29-20.1, 42-29-21,
42-29-23, 42-29-27, 42-29-28, 42-29-29, 42-29-30 and 42-29-31 of the
General Laws in Chapter
42-29 entitled "Sheriffs" are hereby repealed.
42-29-3. Bond.
-- Every person appointed sheriff shall, previous to entering on
the duties
of his or her office, give bond to the general
treasurer in the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars
($25,000), in form approved by the attorney general,
with some surety company authorized to do
business in this state as surety, or with two (2)
other sufficient sureties.
42-29-6. Special
deputies to execute process. -- Every sheriff may appoint a
special
deputy for the service of any writ or process to him
or her directed, provided the appointment be
written upon the back of the writ or process, and the
deputy be sworn, before some person
authorized to administer oaths, duly and faithfully to
execute the writ and process, and a
certificate of the engagement be indorsed thereon.
42-29-7.
Compensation of process deputies in The sheriff of the
county of is hereby authorized and empowered to pay to such
deputy sheriffs as may
be engaged in the process department compensation at a
rate not exceeding two dollars ($2.00)
per day in excess of the compensation paid to deputy
sheriffs serving in any other capacity.
42-29-8.
Responsibility for deputies -- Actions. -- Every sheriff shall
be responsible and
accountable for any neglect or misfeasance in office
of his or her deputies, and in all cases where
any person shall be entitled to an action for any
neglect or misfeasance in office of any deputy
sheriff, he or she may bring the action either against
the sheriff appointing him or her, or against
the deputy, or he or she may join them both together as
parties defendant to the action.
42-29-9.
Revocation of deputations. -- Any sheriff may revoke any
deputation by him
or her given, provided the revocation be entered in
the book for recording deputations and
appointments as aforesaid.
42-29-13.
Action on deputy's bond. -- Any person injured by the breach of
the bond of
any deputy sheriff may, after recovering judgment
against the deputy sheriff, his or her executors
or administrators, for the default, misfeasance, or
nonfeasance of the deputy sheriff, cause a suit
to be instituted upon the bond of the deputy at his or
her own cost, in the name of the sheriff, to
his or her own use.
42-29-20.
Attendance on district court. -- Upon the request of the chief
judge of the
district court, the sheriff of the county in which the
court is held, or one of his or her deputies,
shall attend the sessions of the court.
42-29-20.1.
Attendance at workers' compensation court. -- Upon the request
of the
chief judge of the workers' compensation court, the
sheriff of the county in which the court is
held, or one of his or her deputies, shall attend the
sessions of the court.
42-29-21.
Duties at
The sheriff of the
deem necessary, shall attend the celebrations of the
annual commencements of
and
42-29-23.
Mandates in writs and precepts. -- Every officer to whom any
writ or precept
lawfully issued shall be delivered shall execute the
mandates therein contained as commanded,
and shall make return of his or her action thereon. In
case he or she is unable to execute the
mandates, he or she shall set forth the reason for
failure in his or her return.
42-29-27. Death
of sheriff -- Continuation in office of deputies. -- In case of
the death
of any sheriff, his or her deputy or deputies shall continue
in office, unless removed as herein
provided, and shall execute the duties of the office,
in the name of the deceased, until another
sheriff shall be appointed and sworn, and shall have
given bond as before prescribed, and the
neglect or misfeasance of the deputies in the
meantime, as well as before, shall be a breach of the
condition of the bond given as before directed by the
sheriff who appointed them.
42-29-28.
Executors succeeding to rights of deceased sheriff. -- The
executors or
administrators of a deceased sheriff shall have the
like remedy for the defaults and misfeasances
in office of the deputy or deputies, during the
interval, as the deceased sheriff would have been
entitled to if he or she had continued in life and in
the exercise of his or her office until his or her
successor was appointed and duly qualified.
42-29-29.
Continuation in office until qualification of successor. --
Every sheriff
whose office shall become vacant by resignation or
removal into any other county may,
notwithstanding, officiate as such until his or her
successor shall be duly qualified to act, and his
or her deputies may also exercise their respective
offices during that period.
42-29-30.
Delivery of papers to successor in office. -- All books, notes,
bonds,
obligations, and other papers which sheriffs shall
receive pursuant to this chapter shall be
delivered by them over to their respective successors
in office, as papers and documents
pertaining thereto, and every sheriff unlawfully
refusing to deliver the same on demand shall be
fined not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more
than five hundred dollars ($500).
42-29-31.
Credit for service of legal process. -- The sheriffs of the five
(5) counties
shall extend to each
Bar Association, credit up to the sum of three hundred
dollars ($300) for the service of legal
process; provided, however, that no further credit
need be extended to any said attorney who fails
to make payment within sixty (60) days of receipt of
any bill for services rendered. The sheriffs
of the five (5) counties shall accept funds from any
attorney, who so desires, for the purpose of
establishing an escrow account, which escrow funds
shall be applied on account for future service
of legal process.
SECTION
3. Section 42-7.3-3.2 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-7.3 entitled
"Department of Public
Safety" is hereby amended to read as follows:
42-7.3-3.2.
Division of sheriffs. -- (a) Division established. - A division of
sheriffs is
hereby established within the department of public
safety. This division shall be responsible for
statewide activities assigned by law which relate to
the duties and functions of the sheriffs of the
several counties. The division also shall be
responsible for all statewide activities assigned by law
which relate to the duties and functions of state
marshals. Among its other responsibilities, the
division shall also be responsible for courtroom
security and cellblocks in all state courthouses,
training of personnel, transportation of individuals
charged with crimes, and special operations.
(b) Powers and Duties.
(1) The division of
sheriffs shall have the following powers and duties:
(i)
To provide and maintain security for judges at all state courts;
(ii) To provide and
maintain security in all courtrooms and other public areas within
state courthouses;
(iii) To provide and
maintain security in the cellblocks in all state courts, and exercise all
powers as required and prescribed in all other
provisions of the general laws and public laws
relating to the powers and duties of sheriffs.
(2) The division of
sheriffs shall also have the following powers and duties previously
performed by the
(i)
To be responsible for transportation statewide of prisoners to and from police
departments, the adult correctional institutions, all
courthouses, and other places of detention;
(ii) To transport
persons arrested by state and local police departments to places of
detention; provided, however, nothing in this
subsection shall prevent state and local police
departments from transporting those persons;
(iii) To supervise the
conduct of and maintain order and discipline of the prisoners in
their custody;
(iv) To be responsible
for the custody and safety of prisoners while being transported to
and from court sessions, places of detention, and
outside hospitals prior to commitment to the
adult correctional institutions;
(v) To be responsible
for the custody and security of prisoners detained in the cellblock
areas in the
security of these prisoners during the hearing of
their cases, and while in outside hospitals prior to
commitment to the adult correctional institutions;
(vi) To be responsible
for the safety and welfare of prisoners in their custody;
(vii) To provide all
security in connection with transportation in the execution of
extraditions, including, but not limited to, warrants,
IAD (Interstate Agreement on Detainers),
arrest affidavits, interstate compact extradition, and
criminal detainers; and
(viii) To carry
firearms as prescribed.
(c) Administration
and organization.
(1) The director of
the department of public safety shall appoint, with the consent of the
governor, an executive high sheriff.
(2) The director
of the department of public safety shall appoint deputy sheriffs pursuant
to a rank structure determined by the director of the
department of public safety and other
necessary classifications, subject to the
appropriation process, to provide assistance in the areas of
courthouse and cellblock security, transportation of
prisoners, staff training and special
operations. All employees in the division of sheriffs
shall be in the unclassified service pursuant
to subdivision 36-4-2(13).
SECTION
4. Section 36-4-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 36-4 entitled "Merit
System" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
36-4-2. Positions
in unclassified service. -- The classified service shall comprise all
positions in the state service now existing or hereinafter
established, except the following specific
positions which with other positions heretofore or
hereinafter specifically exempted by legislative
act shall constitute the unclassified service:
(1) Officers and
legislators elected by popular vote and persons appointed to fill
vacancies in elective offices.
(2) Employees of both
houses of the general assembly.
(3) Officers,
secretaries, and employees of the office of the governor, office of the
lieutenant governor, department of state, department
of the attorney general, and the treasury
department.
(4) Members of boards
and commissions appointed by the governor, members of the
state board of elections and the appointees of the
board, members of the commission for human
rights and the employees of the commission, and
directors of departments.
(5) The following
specific offices:
(i)
In the department of administration: director, chief information officer;
(ii) In the department
of business regulation: director;
(iii) In the department
of elementary and secondary education: commissioner of
elementary and secondary education;
(iv) In the department
of higher education: commissioner of higher education;
(v) In the department
of health: director;
(vi) In the department
of labor and training: director, administrative assistant,
administrator of the labor board and legal counsel to
the labor board;
(vii) In the department
of environmental management: director;
(viii) In the department
of transportation: director;
(ix) In the department
of human services: director and director of veterans' affairs;
(x) In the state
properties committee: secretary;
(xi) In the workers' compensation
court: judges, administrator, deputy administrator,
clerk, assistant clerk, clerk secretary;
(xii) In the division
of elderly affairs: director;
(xiii) In the
department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and
hospitals: director;
(xiv) In the department
of corrections: director, assistant director
(institutions/operations), assistant director
(rehabilitative services), assistant director
(administration), and wardens;
(xv) In the department
of children, youth and families: director, one assistant director,
one associate director, and one executive director;
(xvi) In the public
utilities commission: public utilities administrator;
(xvii) In the water
resources board: general manager;
(xviii) In the human
resources investment council: executive director.
(xix) In the office of
health and human services: secretary of health and human services.
(6) Chief of the
hoisting engineers, licensing division, and his or her employees;
executive director of the veterans memorial building
and his or her clerical employees.
(7) One confidential
stenographic secretary for each director of a department and each
board and commission appointed by the governor.
(8) Special counsel,
special prosecutors, regular and special assistants appointed by the
attorney general, the public defender and employees of
his or her office, and members of the
authority.
(9) The academic and/or
commercial teaching staffs of all state institution schools, with
the exception of those institutions under the
jurisdiction of the board of regents for elementary
and secondary education and the board of governors for
higher education.
(10) Members of the
military or naval forces, when entering or while engaged in the
military or naval service.
(11) Judges, referees,
receivers, clerks, assistant clerks, and clerical assistants of the
supreme, superior, family, and district courts, the
traffic tribunal, security officers of the traffic
tribunal, jurors and any persons appointed by any
court.
(12) Election officials
and employees.
(13) Executive high
sheriff, chief deputy sheriff, sheriffs, deputy Deputy
sheriffs, and
other employees of the sheriffs’ division
within the department of public safety.
(14) Patient or inmate
help in state charitable, penal, and correctional institutions and
religious instructors of these institutions and
student nurses in training, residents in psychiatry in
training, and clinical clerks in temporary training at
the institute of mental health within the state
of
(15) (i) Persons employed to make or conduct a temporary and
special inquiry,
investigation, project or examination on behalf of the
legislature or a committee therefor, or on
behalf of any other agency of the state if the
inclusion of these persons in the unclassified service
is approved by the personnel administrator. The
personnel administrator shall notify the house
fiscal advisor and the senate fiscal advisor whenever
he or she approves the inclusion of a person
in the unclassified service.
(ii) The duration of
the appointment of a person, other than the persons enumerated in
this section, shall not exceed ninety (90) days or
until presented to the department of
administration. The department of administration may
extend the appointment another ninety (90)
days. In no event shall the appointment extend beyond
one hundred eighty (180) days.
(16) Members of the
division of state police within the department of public safety.
(17) Executive
secretary of the
(18) Artist and curator
of state owned art objects.
(19) Mental health
advocate.
(20) Child advocate.
(21) The position of
aquaculture coordinator and marine infrastructure specialist within
the coastal resources management council.
(22) Employees of the
office of the health insurance commissioner.
(23) In the department
of revenue: the director, secretary, attorney.
(24) In the department
of public safety: the director.
SECTION
5. Sections 45-16-1, 45-16-4.3 and 45-16-14 of the General Laws in Chapter
45-16 entitled
"Sergeants and Constables" are hereby amended to read as follows:
45-16-1. Refusal
to serve as sergeant -- Maximum service required. -- Whoever is
legally chosen to the office of town sergeant, and
refuses to serve in that office, shall pay a fine of
seven dollars ($7.00), to and for the use of the town,
to be levied and collected, upon conviction,
by warrant of distress issued by any justice of the
peace of a town, the warrant to be directed to
the division of sheriffs, sheriff of the
county or the sheriff's deputy; and no person is obliged to
serve in the office more often than once in seven (7)
years.
45-16-4.3. Service
of process by constables. -- The chief justice of the supreme court,
and the chief judge of the family and district courts,
upon application being made by a constable
authorized or licensed to serve civil process under
this chapter, may authorize the constable to
serve or execute any process or writs issued by or
returnable to the court. Upon being so
authorized or licensed, the constable shall have the
power and authority to serve or execute all
writs and process which may issue from the court in
like manner and at fees authorized to sheriffs
and deputy
sheriffs. Each constable shall at the time of licensing or authorization give
additional
bond with the clerk of the district court in the sum
of five thousand dollars ($5,000) for the
faithful performance of the duties of the office. Any
appointee serves at the pleasure of the
appointing authority.
45-16-14.
Unauthorized services of process. -- Any individual who serves, or
attempts
to serve, any writ or legal process for any court of
this state, other than sheriffs, deputy sheriffs,
and those individuals so authorized for this service
pursuant to this chapter, or other individuals
authorized by law or by rule of court shall be fined
not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor
more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), and/or
imprisoned for a term of not less than six (6)
months, nor more than one year in prison, for each
violation; provided, that this section does not
apply to any city or town constable nor to any power
or authority granted to them by any general
or special law.
SECTION
6. Sections 45-19-1 and 45-19-4.3 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-19
entitled "Relief of
Injured and Deceased Fire Fighters and Police Officers" are hereby amended
to
read as follows:
45-19-1. Salary
payment during line of duty illness or injury. -- (a) Whenever any
police officer of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation
or whenever any police officer, fire
fighter, crash rescue crewperson, fire marshal, chief
deputy fire marshal, or deputy fire marshal of
any city, town, fire district, or the state of
reason of injuries received or sickness contracted in
the performance of his or her duties or due to
their rendering of emergency assistance within the
physical boundaries of the state of Rhode
Island at any occurrence involving the protection or
rescue of human life which necessitates that
they respond in a professional capacity when they
would normally be considered by their
employer to be officially off-duty, the respective
city, town, fire district, state of
Rhode Island Airport Corporation by which the police
officer, fire fighter, crash rescue
crewperson, fire marshal, chief deputy fire marshal,
or deputy fire marshal, is employed, shall,
during the period of the incapacity, pay the police
officer, fire fighter, crash rescue crewperson,
fire marshal, chief deputy fire marshal, or deputy
fire marshal, the salary or wage and benefits to
which the police officer, fire fighter, crash rescue crewperson,
fire marshal, chief deputy fire
marshal, or deputy fire marshal, would be entitled had
he or she not been incapacitated, and shall
pay the medical, surgical, dental, optical, or other
attendance, or treatment, nurses, and hospital
services, medicines, crutches, and apparatus for the
necessary period, except that if any city,
town, fire district, the state of
police officer, fire fighter, crash rescue crewperson,
fire marshal, chief deputy fire marshal, or
deputy fire marshal, with insurance coverage for the
related treatment, services, or equipment,
then the city, town, fire district, the state of
only obligated to pay the difference between the
maximum amount allowable under the insurance
coverage and the actual cost of the treatment,
service, or equipment. In addition, the cities, towns,
fire districts, the state of
expenses incurred by a member who has been placed on a
disability pension and suffers a
recurrence of the injury or illness that dictated his
or her disability retirement, subject to the
provisions of subsection (j) herein.
(b) As used in this
section, "police officer" means and includes any chief or other
member of the police department of any city or town
regularly employed at a fixed salary or wage
and any executive high sheriff, sheriff, deputy
sheriff, member of the fugitive task force, or
capitol police officer, permanent environmental police
officer or criminal investigator of the
department of environmental management, or airport
police officer.
(c) As used in this
section, "fire fighter" means and includes any chief or other member
of the fire department or rescue personnel of any
city, town, or fire district, and any person
employed as a member of the fire department of the
town of
or district in any city or town.
(d) As used in this
section, "crash rescue crewperson" means and includes any chief or
other member of the emergency crash rescue section,
division of airports, or department of
transportation of the state of
(e) As used in this
section, "fire marshal," "chief deputy fire marshal", and
"deputy fire
marshal" mean and include the fire marshal, chief
deputy fire marshal, and deputy fire marshals
regularly employed by the state of
23.
(f) Any person employed
by the state of
the Rhode Island State Police, who is otherwise
entitled to the benefits of chapter 19 of this title
shall be subject to the provisions of chapters 29 --
38 of title 28 for all case management
procedures and dispute resolution for all benefits.
(g) In order to receive
the benefits provided for under this section, a police officer or
firefighter must prove to their employer that he or
she had reasonable grounds to believe that
there was an emergency which required an immediate
need for their assistance for the protection
or rescue of human life.
(h) Any claims to the
benefits provided for under this section resulting from the
rendering of emergency assistance in the state of
protection or rescue of human life while off-duty,
shall first require those covered by this section
to submit a sworn declaration to their employer
attesting to the date, time, place and nature of the
event involving the protection or rescue of human life
causing the professional assistance to be
rendered and the cause and nature of any injuries
sustained in the protection or rescue of human
life. Sworn declarations shall also be required from
any available witness to the alleged
emergency involving the protection or rescue of human
life.
(i)
All declarations required under this section shall contain the following
language:
"Under penalty of
perjury, I declare and affirm that I have examined this declaration,
including any accompanying schedules and statements,
and that all statements contained herein
are true and correct."
(j) Any person
receiving injured on-duty benefits pursuant to this section, and subject to
the jurisdiction of the state retirement board for
accidental retirement disability, for an injury
occurring on or after July 1, 2011, shall be eligible
to receive such benefits for a total period of
eighteen (18) months after the date of the person's
injury that resulted in said person's injured on
duty status, except as provided for in subdivision
45-19-1(j)(2).
(1) Within eighteen
(18) months of being injured, the person shall apply for an accidental
disability retirement allowance from the state
retirement board. A person who so applies shall
continue to receive injured on duty payments until the
person's application for an accidental
disability retirement allowance has been allowed or
denied, and if denied initially, then upon the
expiration of the appeal period from such decision to
the workers' compensation court pursuant to
section 45-21.2-9 of the general laws, or, if
appealed, then upon a decision from the workers'
compensation court denying said appeal, whichever is
applicable.
(2) If a person with
injured on duty status fails to apply for an accidental disability
retirement allowance from the state retirement board
within the eighteen (18) month period set
forth in this subsection, that person's injured on
duty payments shall terminate, unless said person
provides to the applicable municipality a written
opinion from a physician that states that it is the
physician's opinion, to a reasonable degree of medical
certainty, that the person will be able to
return to work within six (6) months. In such event,
the injured person may continue to receive
injured on duty payments for a period, not to exceed
six (6) months, after the initial eighteen (18)
month period expires.
45-19-4.3. One
time death benefit -- Death benefits to family of deceased police
officers, correctional officers, and firefighters. -- (a) If an active or retired police officer,
capitol police officer, correctional officer, firefighter,
crash rescue crew person, fire marshal, or
deputy fire marshal of any city, town, fire district,
or the state of state sheriff or
state deputy
sheriff or a correctional officer or member of a volunteer auxiliary fire force
or
volunteer crash rescue or ambulance corps is killed or
dies from injuries received while in the
performance of his or her duties, there shall be paid
a killed-in-line-of-duty benefit to be
administered by the board of police officer's and
firefighter's relief. The benefit shall be in the
sum of forty percent (40%) of the federal death
benefits for law enforcement officers and
firefighters killed in the line of duty. The benefit
shall be paid as follows:
(1) If there is no
surviving child of such officer, to the surviving spouse or domestic
partner of such officer;
(2) If there is a
surviving child or children and a surviving spouse or domestic partner,
one-half (1/2) to the surviving child or children of
such officer in equal shares and one-half (1/2)
to the surviving spouse or domestic partner;
(3) If there is no
surviving spouse or domestic partner, to the child or children of said
officer in equal shares;
(4) If there is no
surviving spouse, domestic partner, or surviving child, to the individual
designated by such officer as beneficiary under such
officer's most recently executed life
insurance policy; provided, that such individual
survived such officer; or
(5) If none of the
above, to the parent or parents of such officer in equal shares.
(b) Domestic partners
shall certify by affidavit to the board of police officer's and
firefighter's relief that the: (1) partners are at
least eighteen (18) years of age and mentally
competent to contract; (2) partners are not married to
anyone; (3) partners are not related by blood
to a degree which would prohibit marriage in the state
of
together and have resided together for at least one year;
(5) partners are financially interdependent
as evidenced by at least two (2) of the following: (i) domestic partnership agreement or
relationship contract; (ii) joint mortgage or joint
ownership of primary residence; (iii) two (2) of:
(A) joint ownership of motor vehicle; (B) joint
checking account; (C) joint credit account; (D)
joint lease; and/or (iv) the domestic partner has been
designated as a beneficiary for the
deceased's will, retirement contract or life
insurance.
SECTION
7. Section 3-1-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 3-1 entitled "General
Provisions" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
3-1-4. Sales on
execution exempt from title. -- Nothing in this title and chapter shall
be
construed as prohibiting sheriffs, deputy sheriffs,
constables and town sergeants from selling
beverages, as defined in this title, under and by
virtue of executions duly levied.
SECTION
8. Section 3-5-18 of the General Laws in Chapter 3-5 entitled "Licenses
Generally" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
3-5-18. Signature
on licenses -- Posting and exhibition. -- (a) All retail licenses
issued
under chapter 7 of this title shall bear the signature
written by hand of the clerk of the licensing
board, body, or officials issuing them, and shall not
be printed, stamped, typewritten, engraved,
photographed or cut from one instrument and attached
to another and shall be displayed by the
licensee, on the premises and shall be exhibited on
demand to any sheriff or deputy sheriff of the
county, to
any city or town sergeant, constable, officer or member of the city or town
police or to
any member of the department of state police or agent
of the department.
(b) All retail licenses
shall be displayed within the premises but need not be posted. The
license shall be exhibited to any sheriff or
deputy sheriff of the county, to any city or town
sergeant, constable, officer or member of the city or
town police or to any member of the
department of state police or agent of the department
who request proof that the establishment is
duly licensed.
SECTION
9. Section 3-12-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 3-12 entitled
"Enforcement
of Title" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
3-12-1. Duty of
sheriffs, constables, and police officers -- Action on taxpayer's
demand Duty of deputy sheriffs, constables, and police officers -- Action on
taxpayer's
demand. --
The sheriffs of the several counties and their deputies Members of
the division of
sheriffs,
and the city and town sergeants, constables, officers, or members of the town
or city
police, and members of the division of state police,
are empowered and it is made their duty to
see that the provisions of this title and the rules
and regulations made or authorized by the
department of business regulation and the division of
taxation are enforced within their counties,
towns, and cities. It is their special duty to use
their utmost efforts to repress and prevent crime by
the suppression of unlicensed liquor shops, gambling
places, and houses of ill fame, and they
shall also do so on the request of any taxpayer of any
town or city and may command aid in the
execution of the authority conferred. Any officer
within the above enumeration who willfully
neglects or refuses to perform the duties imposed upon
him or her by this section shall be fined
not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) and be
rendered ineligible again to be appointed to this
position; provided, that the officer may after investigation,
before taking any further action at the
request of any taxpayer, demand that the taxpayer
requesting him or her to act give a bond to
secure to that officer reasonable compensation for his
or her services and to protect him or her
from all costs and damages that may arise from that
action.
SECTION
10. Sections 4-1-12 and 4-1-20 of the General Laws in Chapter 4-1 entitled
"Cruelty to
Animals" are hereby amended to read as follows:
4-1-12. Entry of
premises where bird or animal fights are conducted -- Arrest --
Seizure of birds or animals. -- Any sheriff, deputy sheriff, town sergeant,
constable, police
officer or any officer authorized to serve criminal
process may enter any place, building, or
tenement anywhere within the state, where there is an
exhibition of the fighting of birds or
animals, or where preparations are being made for that
exhibition, and without a warrant, arrest
all persons present, and take possession of the birds
or animals engaged in fighting, and all birds
or animals found there and intended to be used or
engaged in fighting. Those persons shall be
kept in custody in jail or other convenient place not
more than twenty-four (24) hours, Sundays
and legal holidays excepted, at or before the
expiration of which time those persons shall be
brought before a district court or the superior court
and proceeded against according to law.
4-1-20. Duty of
police officers -- Fines paid to society for prevention of cruelty to
animals. --
Any sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable or police officer shall prosecute
all violations of
this chapter which come to his or her knowledge and
all fines and forfeitures resulting from the
complaint of any officer or agent of the society for
the prevention of cruelty to animals under this
chapter, shall enure and be
paid over to the society in aid of the benevolent objects for which it
was incorporated.
SECTION
11. Section 4-4-13 of the General Laws in Chapter 4-4 entitled "Animal
Diseases in General"
is hereby amended to read as follows:
4-4-13. Powers of
federal and state inspectors -- Assistance by peace officers. -- The
inspectors of the state department of environmental
management and the department of
agriculture of the
management, or with any agent of the state, has the
right of inspection, quarantine, and
condemnation of animals affected with any contagious,
infectious, or communicable disease, or
suspected to be affected, or that have been exposed to
any contagious, infectious, or
communicable disease, and for these purposes are
authorized and empowered to enter upon any
grounds or premises. The director of agriculture or
inspectors of the
agriculture, in cooperation with the state department
of environmental management, or with any
agent of the state department of environmental
management have the power to call on deputy
sheriffs, constables, and peace officers to assist
them in the discharge of their duties in carrying
out the provisions of the act of congress approved May
29, 1884, 21 U.S.C. section 113 et seq.,
establishing the bureau of animal industry, or the
provisions of the department of environmental
management, and it is made the duty of deputy
sheriffs, constables, and peace officers to assist
those inspectors or agents when requested, and those
inspectors or agents have the same power
and protection as peace officers while engaged in the
discharge of their duties.
SECTION
12. Section 5-11-12 of the General Laws in Chapter 5-11 entitled "Hawkers
and Peddlers" is
hereby amended to read as follows:
5-11-12. Arrest of
violators -- Detention of merchandise. -- Any state police officer,
any police officer of any city or town who has
probable cause to believe a person has violated the
provisions of this chapter, and any sheriff,
deputy sheriff, town sergeant, or constable within his
or her precinct who has probable cause to believe a
person has violated the provisions of this
chapter, may arrest that person, and may also detain
any goods, wares, or other merchandise
which the arrested person has with him or her at the
time of his or her arrest, for the purpose of
hawking and peddling; and the arresting officer
detaining the goods, wares, or merchandise shall
be allowed a reasonable compensation for the
safekeeping and care of the merchandise and
property, to be taxed in the costs of prosecution and
conviction for the offense.
SECTION
13. Section 5-15-13 of the General Laws in Chapter 5-15 entitled
"Itinerant
Vendors" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
5-15-13.
Enforcement -- Failure to produce license as evidence -- Seizure. --
(a) It is
the duty of the officers in each town and city in this
state to see that the provisions of this chapter
are complied with and to prosecute for violations of
those provisions. All of those officers shall
have power to demand the production of the proper
state and local licenses from any itinerant
vendor advertising or actually engaged in business,
and any failure to produce those licenses shall
be prima facie evidence against the vendor that he or
she has none.
(b) Property held out
for sale by any itinerant vendor in this state without a permit to
make sales at retail issued by the division of
taxation is subject to seizure, without a warrant, by
the tax administrator, his or her agents or employees,
or by any sheriff, deputy sheriff, or police
officer of the state when directed by the tax
administrator to do so. Any property seized may be
offered by the tax administrator for sale at public
auction to the highest bidder after advertisement
to discharge any tax liability owed to the state;
provided, that any property seized in that manner
is not released until the tax administrator is
satisfied that all taxes owed to the state are paid and
the retailer is in compliance with the sales/use tax
law.
SECTION
14. Section 5-22-22 of the General Laws in Chapter 5-22 entitled "Shows
and
Exhibitions" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
5-22-22. Obstruction
of sheriff or deputies Obstruction of members of the division of
sheriffs. -- Any person who hinders or obstructs any sheriff or deputy
sheriff in entering any
exhibition, performance, or place mentioned in this
chapter is, upon conviction, guilty of
obstructing an officer and liable to the penalty
imposed in section 11-32-1.
SECTION
15. Section 8-8.1-4.2 of the General Laws in Chapter 8-8.1 entitled
"Domestic
Assault" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
8-8.1-4.2. Return
of service -- Alternate service. -- (a) The complaint and any order
issued under this chapter shall be personally served
upon the defendant by a deputy sheriff or
constable except as provided in subsections (c), (d),
and (f) of this section. Service shall be made
without payment of any fee when service is made by a deputy
sheriff. At the election of the
plaintiff, service pursuant to this subsection may
also be made by a constable licensed to serve
process of the district court pursuant to section
45-16-4.1. The constable shall be entitled to
receive the fee allowed by law for the service of a
district court summons.
(b) Return of service
shall be forwarded by the deputy sheriff or constable to the clerk of
court prior to the date set down for hearing on the
complaint. If service has not been made, the
deputy
sheriff or constable shall indicate on the summons the reason therefor and the attempts
made to serve the defendant.
(c) At the time the
return of service is sent to the clerk of the court, the deputy sheriff
or
constable shall cause a copy of the return of service
to be sent to the plaintiff and to the
appropriate law enforcement agency.
(d) If, at the time of
hearing on the complaint, the court determines that after diligent
effort the deputy sheriff or constable has been
unable to serve the defendant personally, the judge
may order an alternate method of service designed to
give reasonable notice of the action to the
defendant and taking into consideration the
plaintiff's ability to afford the means of service
ordered. Alternative service shall include but not be
limited to: service by certified and regular
mail at defendant's last known address (excluding the
residence which he or she has been ordered
to vacate) or place of employment, leaving copies at
the defendant's dwelling or usual place of
abode with a person of suitable age and discretion
residing therein, or by publication in a
newspaper for two (2) consecutive weeks. The court
shall set a new date for hearing on the
complaint and shall extend the temporary order until
that date.
(e) If the defendant
appears in person before the court, the necessity for further service is
waived and proof of service of that order is not
necessary.
(f) If the defendant is
served notice regarding the complaint and hearing, but does not
appear at the hearing, the clerk of the district court
shall mail the defendant a copy of the resulting
order.
SECTION
16. Sections 9-5-6, 9-5-7, 9-5-8, 9-5-9 and 9-5-10 of the General Laws in
Chapter 9-5 entitled
"Writs, Summons and Process" are hereby amended to read as follows:
9-5-6. Writs and
process operating throughout state -- Officers to whom directed. --
All writs and process shall run throughout the state,
and shall be directed to the division of
sheriffs, or constables, of all the counties
in the state, or to their deputies; but if any deputy the
sheriff of any county is a party to the action
or suit, the process, if to be served in that county,
shall, in addition to the former direction, be
directed to the town sergeant sergeants in the county,
or constable
and may be served by any one of them not a party to the action or suit.
9-5-7. Direction
of writs for arrest or execution against the body. -- All writs
whatsoever, commanding the arrest of a defendant, or
executions running against the body of a
defendant, shall be directed for service only to the
division of sheriffs or their deputies, or if the
writ is to be served in the town of
town, subject to the provisions of section 9-5-8, and
no writ of arrest shall be served by any other
officer.
9-5-8. Power of
New Shoreham town sergeant -- Bond. -- The town sergeant of the
town of
criminal process in the town of
jurisdiction of the state, the ad damnum
of which does not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000),
as fully and effectually as a member of the
division of sheriffs the sheriff of ;
provided, that the town sergeant of New Shoreham give
bond, with two (2) sufficient sureties, to
the general treasurer in the sum of two thousand
dollars ($2,000). In case any person is injured by
the breach of the bond, he or she may sue upon the
bond in like manner as he or she might do
upon a sheriff's bond in a like case under the
provisions of sections 42-29-12 and 42-29-13.
9-5-9. Warrants
for commitment to institutions. -- Any warrant or mittimus
issued
from any district court committing any person to the
the institute of mental
health shall be directed to and executed by duly
authorized agents of the department of human
services, who shall make return thereon, the
provisions of any other law to the contrary
notwithstanding.
9-5-10. Direction
and return of district courts writs and summonses. -- Writs and
summonses issued by a district court shall be made
returnable to the court at the place and on the
day and hour provided by law, to be named in the writs
and summonses, and shall, except as
otherwise specifically provided, be directed to the division
of sheriffs sheriff, the sheriff's
deputies, or
to either of the town sergeants or constables licensed pursuant to section
45-16-4.1 of
the county in which the action shall be brought, or
pursuant to section 45-16-4.3 for statewide
service; provided, that writs of arrest and writs,
summonses, and executions issued by a district
court in actions for possession of tenements or
estates let or held at will or by sufferance shall be
directed to the division of sheriffs sheriff
or the sheriff's deputies in the county in which the
action shall be brought and service thereof shall be made by a member of
the division of sheriffs
the sheriff or the sheriff's deputies; and provided, further, that in actions wherein the
debt or
damages demanded exceed three hundred dollars ($300),
a town sergeant of the county in which
the action is brought shall have power to serve the
writs or summonses only if his or her
certificate of appointment has been endorsed approving
such use thereof by the judge of the
district court having jurisdiction in the city or town
by which the sergeant was appointed or
elected. In case any person upon whom it is necessary
to make service of any writ, summons, or
execution issued by a district court is, or has
estate, in any other county than the one in which the
action is brought, the writ, summons, or execution may
also be directed to and served by the like
officer of such other county.
SECTION
17. Section 9-9-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 9-9 entitled "Jury
Lists" is
hereby amended to read as
follows:
9-9-3. Persons
exempt from service. -- The following persons shall be exempted from
serving as jurors, unless such persons shall waive
their exemption, namely: the members of
congress from the state of
officers of the general assembly during their tenure
of office irrespective of whether the general
assembly is in session or not, the jury commissioner
and his or her assistants, the justices of the
state and
officers, sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, marshals,
deputy marshals, probation and parole officers,
members of any paid police force of the state or of
any city or town, members of any paid fire
department of any city or town, and members of the
armed services on active duty.
SECTION
18. Section 9-17-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 9-17 entitled
"Witnesses"
is hereby amended to read
as follows:
9-17-8. Attachment
of witness in criminal proceeding. -- Whenever any witness, duly
served with a subpoena to testify in any criminal
proceeding at any court, shall neglect to appear
according to the tenor of the subpoena, the court may
order a writ of attachment to issue against
him or her, returnable at such time as the court shall
direct, and may direct the writ of attachment
to each and all sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, town
sergeants, and constables within the state.
SECTION
19. Sections 9-26-27, 9-26-28 and 9-26-29 of the General Laws in Chapter 9-
26 entitled "Levy and
9-26-27. Interest
on execution. -- Every sheriff, deputy sheriff, town sergeant,
and
constable charged with the service of any execution
for any debt or damages shall levy, collect,
receive, and pay over interest on the debt or damages,
from the date entered on the margin, up to
the time of its discharge by him or her.
9-26-28. Execution
against sheriff Execution against a deputy sheriff. -- Whenever
judgment shall be rendered against any person holding
the office of deputy sheriff, the execution
issued thereon, directed in the ordinary form, may be
delivered to the division of sheriffs sheriff
or a deputy sheriff of some other county, who, within the county of the defendant sheriff,
may
levy on the property, subject to levy on execution, of
the defendant, as the proper sheriff of the
county might do in other cases, and proceed and sell the property according to law.
9-26-29. Execution
against body of sheriff for want of property Execution against
body of a deputy sheriff for want of property. -- For want of goods and chattels and real estate
or other property, subject to levy on execution, the other
sheriff or deputy shall director of public
safety may designate a deputy sheriff to take the body of the defendant sheriff and
commit him or
her to the adult correctional institutions, whenever
the writ of execution shall command him or
her so to do.
SECTION
20. Section 9-28-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 9-28 entitled
"Proceedings
in Aid of Execution"
is hereby amended to read as follows:
9-28-6.
Enforcement of decree. -- If the debtor at any time fails to comply
with the
decree, the court entering the decree may cause him or
her to be cited to show cause for the
noncompliance; and unless the debtor shows good cause therefor, the court may order that unless
he or she complies with the decree, or with such
modification thereof as the court may then make,
within the time stated in the order, the failure shall
be a contempt of court; and if at the expiration
of the time fixed by the court for compliance with the
new decree the debtor still fails or refuses
to comply therewith, the court may enforce its decree
by proceedings for contempt. And if a
defendant is in the custody of or committed to jail by
the sheriff a member of the division of
sheriffs, or
imprisoned, either upon execution or by order of the court in contempt
proceedings, it
shall not operate in any degree as a payment or
satisfaction of the judgment upon which the
execution is issued, or concerning which the order is
entered, nor shall the custody, commitment
to jail, or imprisonment be or constitute any bar,
delay, or hinderance hindrance to any
legal or
equitable proceedings to discover or reach any assets,
legal or equitable, of the defendant.
SECTION
21. Sections 9-29-9, 9-29-14 and 9-29-14.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 9-
29 entitled
"Fees" are hereby amended to read as follows:
9-29-9. Fees of
sheriffs, sergeants, and constables. -- (a) The fees, including
mileage, of
sheriffs, deputy
sheriffs, town sergeants, and constables, for which a deposit to insure payment
may be required, shall not exceed the following:
(1) For serving any writ
of replevin, or out of state papers ............
$100.00
(2) For serving all
other writs, citations, or subpoenas ............ $45.00
(3) For a writ copy of
every one hundred words .......................... $2.00
(4) For every writ
returned when the defendant cannot be found ...$15.00
(5) For serving any writ
of arrest or body attachment .................. $100.00
(b) The above fees shall
be deposited as general revenue.
9-29-14. Legal Aid
Society and Rhode Island Legal Services, Inc. exempt from fees. -
-
Neither the Legal Aid Society of Rhode Island nor Rhode Island Legal Services,
Inc. shall be
required to pay any fees to the superior court, family
court, or district courts or the clerks thereof
or any fees or charges for the service or travel of sheriffs
or deputy sheriffs for serving any writ,
citation, subpoena or other process or for taking
bail, bond, or inventory or for making copies of
writs for or in behalf of the organizations or their
clients; provided, however, that fees and
charges authorized by law shall nevertheless be
taxable as costs.
9-29-14.1. The
state exempt from fees. -- The state of
agencies, boards, and commissions shall not be
required to pay any fees, including appeal fees, to
the superior court or district courts or the clerks
thereof, or any fees or charges for the service or
travel of sheriffs or deputy sheriffs for
serving any writ, citation, subpoena, or other process or for
taking bail, bond, or inventory or for making copies
of writs for or in behalf of the state;
provided, however, that fees and charges authorized by
law shall nevertheless be taxable as costs.
SECTION
22. Section 10-1-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 10-1 entitled "Abatement
of Nuisances" is
hereby amended to read as follows:
10-1-7. Decree and
order of abatement --
nuisance shall finally be admitted or established in
any proceeding under this chapter, a decree
permanently enjoining the maintenance thereof shall be
entered, and, in addition thereto, an order
of abatement shall be entered, directing the
sheriff of the county, or his or her deputies, a deputy
sheriff to
enter the place where the nuisance exists and to sell and remove, in the manner
provided
for the sale of goods and chattels under execution,
all personal property used in maintaining the
nuisance, unless the owner of the personal property
shall prove to the satisfaction of the court that
he or she had no knowledge and by the exercise of
reasonable diligence could not have learned of
the maintenance of the nuisance before the filing of
the complaint, and the court may further
direct that the place where the nuisance exists shall
be kept closed for all purposes for a period of
one year unless otherwise ordered. The proceeds of any
sale under this section shall be applied
first to the payment of all costs incurred in
connection with the proceedings brought under this
chapter in connection with the nuisance, and secondly
to the payment of a reasonable counsel fee
for the plaintiff, and any balance remaining shall be
paid to the owner of the property so sold.
SECTION
23. Sections 10-5-16, 10-5-17 and 10-5-32 of the General Laws in Chapter 10-
5 entitled
"Attachment" are hereby amended to read as follows:
10-5-16. Surrender
of attached goods on defendant's bond. -- Every officer having
goods and chattels attached by him or her in his or
her custody shall surrender the goods and
chattel, at any time after the attachment, and before
final judgment or decree, to the person whose
interest in the goods and chattel has been attached,
or from whose possession they have been
taken, upon being tendered a bond by the defendant or
someone in his or her behalf, with
sufficient surety or sureties to the satisfaction of
the officer, in double the value of the goods and
chattels so attached, the value to be determined by
the sworn appraisal of any two (2) or three (3)
persons, one chosen by the sheriff director
of the department of public safety and one by the
defendant or his or her attorney, and the third by the
creditor or his or her attorney, or in the penal
sum of the amount of damages stated in the writ, with
condition that the bond shall be null and
void if, at any time after final judgment or decree
rendered in the action or cause in which the
attachment shall have been made, upon request therefor, the appraised value of the goods and
chattels shall be paid, or the goods and chattels
shall, in as good order and condition as when
surrendered, be returned to the officer taking the
bond, or to any officer who shall be charged
with the service of an execution issued upon the
judgment or decree rendered in the action or
cause, unless the judgment or decree shall have been
paid, or shall be immediately paid, together
with the costs upon the execution, upon the making of
the request for the return of the goods and
chattels or the payment of their appraised value.
10-5-17. Release
of real estate on bond. -- Each sheriff in each county The
director of
the department of public safety or his or her designee wherein any officer commanded by any
original writ or writ of mesne
process to attach the real estate or right, title, and interest in the real
estate of any defendant has attached the real estate
or defendant's right, title, and interest therein,
whether during his or her tenure as sheriff or during
the tenure of a prior sheriff, shall,
by himself
or herself or through his or her deputies,
release and discharge the attachment upon the public
records at any time after the attachment and before
final judgment or decree:
(1) Upon being tendered
a bond, running to the sheriff and his or her successors in office
division of sheriffs, by the defendant or someone in his or her behalf with sufficient surety,
which
surety shall be a surety corporation authorized so to
act in this state, in the penal sum of the
amount of damages stated in the writ, with condition
that the bond shall be null and void if there
is a settlement or discontinuance of the action or
cause, or if the final judgment or decree in the
action or cause in which the writ of attachment was
served shall be immediately paid and satisfied
after the rendition of the final judgment or decree,
or if the execution issued in the writ be
returned satisfied, or if final judgment or decree in
the action or cause is for the defendant, or
upon the happening of any event which, ipso facto,
would have resulted in the extinguishment of
the lien of the attachment had the attachment not been
released and discharged pursuant to the
provisions of this section; or
(2) Upon payment by a
defendant, or by someone in his or her behalf, of the amount of
damages stated in the writ, into the registry of the
court in which the action or cause is then
pending, and the clerk thereof shall immediately
notify the sheriff of the fact of the payment and
thereafter shall pay from the amount so deposited to
the plaintiff, if final judgment or decree is in
his or her favor, so much thereof as may be required to
satisfy his or her execution, and shall pay
the balance, if any, of the amount so deposited, with
actual accrued interest, if any, to the
defendant, and if judgment or decree in the action or
cause is for defendant, in the event upon
presentation of execution in his or her favor, the
amount so deposited, with actual accrued
interest, if any, shall be immediately paid to the
defendant, but such amount may at any time be
paid by the clerk as the parties may by their
agreement stipulate, or as the court upon motion of
any party in interest may direct.
10-5-32. Surety on
defendant's bond -- Lien on surety's real estate. -- Whenever a
sheriff or a
deputy sheriff member of the division of sheriffs shall take a
bond for the release of
goods and chattels attached on an original writ or a
writ of mesne process, in which the ad
damnum shall be more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), the
bond shall be in the penal sum of
the amount of damages stated in the writ, with some
surety company authorized to do business in
this state as surety, unless the defendant can furnish
as surety a resident of the state satisfactory to
the officer taking the bond, who is the owner of real
estate in this state having a value over all
incumbrances thereon, equal to the penal sum of the amount of
damages stated in the writ. In case
the owner of such real estate is accepted as surety,
the bond shall contain a description of the real
estate, so that the real estate may be readily
identified in the records of land evidence of the city
or town in which it is situated, and also a statement
by the surety of the value of the real estate
free from all incumbrances,
and the description and the valuation shall be sworn to by the surety,
and his or her affidavit shall be made a part of the
bond. Before the goods and chattels are
released, an attested copy of the bond shall be filed
with the recorder of deeds, but if there is no
recorder of deeds, then with a city or town clerk of
the city or town in which the real estate is
situated, and the copy shall be recorded in the same
manner as copies of writs of attachment are
recorded under the provisions of this chapter, and the
bond shall be a lien upon the real estate
described in the bond until the action in which the
attachment was made is disposed of, or the
bond is cancelled by the plaintiff, or by his or her
attorney of record, or by order of a court of
competent jurisdiction. The officer taking the bond
shall be allowed a fee of one dollar and fifty
cents ($1.50) for making a copy of the bond, and the
fee for the copy, together with the fee for
recording, shall be a part of the costs in the case.
Any lien created by the provisions of this
section may be established, foreclosed, and enforced
by a civil action, which action may be heard,
tried, and determined according to the usages in
chancery and the principles of equity.
SECTION
24. Sections 10-9-12 and 10-9-24 of the General Laws in Chapter 10-9
entitled "Habeas
Corpus" are hereby amended to read as follows:
10-9-12. Remand,
bail, or commitment pending judgment. -- Until judgment is given,
the court may remand the party, or may bail him or her
to appear from day to day, or may commit
him or her to the sheriff of the county a
member of the division of sheriffs, or place him or her
under such other care and custody as the circumstances
of the case may require.
10-9-24. Attachment
and commitment of sheriff or deputy Attachment and
commitment of a member of the division of sheriffs. -- If an attachment shall be issued against
a sheriff or his or her deputy any deputy sheriff, it may be directed to any
town sergeant or to any
other person, to be designated in the attachment the commissioner of public safety and the
superintendent of the Rhode Island state police, who shall have full power to execute the
attachment; and if the deputy sheriff or deputy
should be committed upon such process, he or she
may be committed to the adult correctional
institutions in any other county than his or her own.
SECTION
25. Sections 10-10-11 and 10-10-12 of the General Laws in Chapter 10-10
entitled "Imprisonment
on Civil Process" are hereby amended to read as follows:
10-10-11. Bonds
and obligations not provided for void. -- If any sheriff, deputy
sheriff,
town sergeant, constable or the warden of the adult
correctional institutions shall take or receive
from any prisoner in his or her custody any bond,
obligation, covenant, promise, or assurance
whatsoever, to indemnify and save harmless the person
taking the bond, obligation, convenant
covenant,
promise, or assurance for the enlargement or ease of the prisoner, in any other
form or
manner than is prescribed by law for taking bail on mesne process in a civil action, or is
prescribed in this chapter or chapter 12 of this
title, every such bond, obligation, covenant,
promise or assurance whatsoever, shall be utterly
void.
10-10-12. Payment
of prisoner's board. -- Whenever any person shall be imprisoned in
or committed to the adult correctional institution
upon original writ, mesne process, execution, or
surrender or commitment by bail, in any action
whatsoever, the party at whose suit the person is
imprisoned, or committed for the benefit of or at the
request of the
pay to the warden of the institution in which he or
she is imprisoned or committed the sum of two
hundred ten dollars ($210), per week in advance for
the board of the prisoner or person,
reckoning the board from the time of the commitment;
which payment in advance shall continue
to be made by the creditor or the
detained at his or her suit; provided, however, that
in all cases in which any person shall be
imprisoned under an original writ, mesne
process, execution against the body or because of
surrender or commitment by bail, in any suit in favor
of the state and in all cases where the person
is held in civil or criminal contempt by any court of
the state, or any commitment under section
15-5-16, no board need be demanded by or paid to the
warden. Provided, further, however, that in
all applicable cases of commitment, the party so
committing shall pay the board in advance until
one week after notice in writing of the commitment
shall have been duly served upon the party, or
his or her attorney of record, by the sheriff, his
or her deputy any member of the division of
sheriffs, or
other duly qualified officer and lodged with the warden of the institution
where the
person is committed.
SECTION
26. Section 10-11-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 10-11 entitled "Bail of
Persons Imprisoned on Civil
Process" is hereby amended to read as follows:
10-11-2. Giving of
bail bond. -- Whoever shall become bail for any person may give
bond to the sheriff a member of the division
of sheriffs, if the writ or process shall be served by
the sheriff or his or her deputy division of
sheriffs; and if the writ or process shall be served by a
town sergeant or constable, the bail bond in such case
shall be given to the officer serving the writ
or process.
SECTION
27. Sections 10-12-1, 10-12-2 and 10-12-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 10-
12 entitled "Liberty
of Jail Yard" are hereby repealed.
10-12-1. Power
of sheriff or warden to grant liberty. -- Whenever any person
shall be
imprisoned for want of bail in any civil action, or
upon surrender or commitment by bail in any
civil action, or on execution in any civil action,
except on executions awarded in actions on penal
statutes or on bonds given in pursuance of the
provisions of this chapter, or in any action for
conversion, all actions sounding in tort other than
for replevin and for trespass to land in which
the title to the land was in dispute, and actions to
recover possession of land, or in an action
prosecuted by bail against his principal, the sheriff
or warden of the correctional institution may
grant the person a chamber or lodging in any of the
houses or apartments belonging to the
institution and the liberty of the yard within the
limits thereof, upon reasonable payment to be
made for chamber room and upon bond being given by the
person as provided in section 10-12-2.
10-12-2. Bond
to secure liberty. -- The person shall first leave with the
sheriff or warden
a bond to the creditor with two (2) or more sufficient
sureties, being inhabitants of this state,
bound jointly and severally at least in double the sum
for which he or she is imprisoned, with
condition in form following: That if the above now a
prisoner in the correctional institution in
within the county of at the suit of shall from
henceforth continue to be a true prisoner in the
custody, guard, and safekeeping of warden of the institution,
and in the custody, guard, and
safekeeping of his or her deputy officers and
servants, or, some one of them within the limits of
the institution and keeping the warden advised of the
place of his or her usual residence and
abode therein until he or she shall be lawfully
discharged without committing any manner of
escape or escapes during the term of his or her
restraint, then this obligation shall be void or else
shall remain in full force and virtue.
10-12-8. Surrender
of principal by surety on jail yard bond. -- Every person who
shall
become surety in any bond given by any debtor for the
liberty of the jail yard as provided in
section 10-12-2, shall have a right at any time to
deliver up the principal in the bond to the sheriff
of the county in which the debtor shall have been
committed, or to the warden of the adult
correctional institutions, and within the
institutions, whereupon he or she shall be detained by the
sheriff or warden in close jail, in the same manner as
though he or she had not been liberated on
bond, until he or she shall give other bond according
to the provisions of this chapter, or be
otherwise discharged according to law, and none of the
sureties, after the principal has been
delivered up as provided in this section, shall be
liable for any escape thereafter committed by the
principal.
SECTION
28. Sections 10-13-4 and 10-13-16 of the General Laws in Chapter 10-13
entitled "Relief of
Poor Debtors" are hereby amended to read as follows:
10-13-4. Service
of citation on creditor. -- The citation shall be served on the
creditor,
his or her agent or attorney as provided in section
10-13-3, seven (7) days at least before the time
appointed as provided in section 10-13-3, by reading
the citation to him or her, or by leaving an
attested copy with some person living at his or her
last and usual place of abode, by the sheriff,
his or her deputy a member of the division of sheriffs or either of the town
sergeants or constables
in the county in which the creditor, his or her agent
or attorney, shall reside. If the creditor does
not live or have any agent or attorney within this
state, the service shall be made upon the creditor
by any disinterested person.
10-13-16. Service
of citation. -- The citation shall be served by any sheriff,
deputy
sheriff, town sergeant, or constable, at least four
(4) days before the time therein appointed for
taking the oath, by reading the citation to the plaintiff
or by leaving an attested copy thereof at his
or her last and usual place of abode in this state,
with some person living there, and the citation
shall be returned to the court in which the action is
pending. If the plaintiff does not reside in this
state, service of the citation may be made in like
manner upon the agent or attorney of record of
the plaintiff in this state.
SECTION
29. Sections 11-5-5 and 11-5-15 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-5 entitled
"Assaults" are
hereby amended to read as follows:
11-5-5. Assault of
police officers and other officials. -- Any person who shall make an
assault or battery, or both, by knowingly and
willfully either (1) striking, or (2) spraying with a
noxious chemical, commonly used as a personal defense
weapon, including Mace and an
oleoresin capsicum product or like products, a
uniformed member of the state police or
metropolitan park police, environmental police
officer, state properties patrol officer, probation
and parole officers, state government case worker or
investigator, judge of the supreme, superior,
family, district court, traffic tribunal or municipal
court, sheriff, deputy sheriff, city or town
police officer or firefighter, member of the
corrections,
member of the capitol police, member of campus security force of state colleges
and
universities, member of the
fugitive task force,
member of the town, city, or state police force,
investigator of the department of the attorney
general appointed pursuant to section 42-9-8.1, or
member of the railroad police after proper
identification is displayed, or uniformed dog officer,
or out-of-state police officer called into
attorney general, or employees of the department of
environmental management responsible for
administrative inspections or any constable authorized
by chapter 45-16 of the
general law causing bodily injury while the officer or
official is engaged in the performance of his
or her duty, shall be deemed to have committed a
felony, and shall be imprisoned not exceeding
three (3) years, or fined not exceeding fifteen
hundred dollars ($1,500), or both.
11-5-15. Aggravated
harassment of a deputy marshal or deputy sheriff by an
inmate. Aggravated harassment of a deputy sheriff by an inmate.
-- Every prisoner confined
in a custodial unit of the adult correctional
institutions or in the custody of the warden or other
correctional employee while outside the confines of
the institutions who causes or attempts to
cause any deputy marshal or deputy sheriff to
come into contact with blood, seminal fluid, urine
or feces, by throwing, tossing or expelling the fluid
or material with the intent to harass, annoy,
threaten or alarm, shall be imprisoned not exceeding
two (2) years, or fined not less than five
hundred dollars ($500) nor more than two thousand
dollars ($2,000), or both.
SECTION
30. Section 11-8-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-8 entitled "Burglary
and
Breaking and Entering"
is hereby amended to read as follows:
11-8-6. Entry to
steal poultry -- Arrest -- Fine. -- Every person who breaks and enters,
or enters in the nighttime without breaking, any
building or enclosure in which are kept or
confined any kind of poultry, with intent to steal any
of the poultry, shall be punished by
imprisonment for not more than five (5) years, or by a
fine of not more than five hundred dollars
($500), or both. Every person who is discovered in the
act of willfully entering any building or
enclosure in which are kept or confined any kind of
poultry, with intent to steal any of the
poultry, may be arrested without a warrant by a sheriff,
deputy sheriff, constable, guard, police
officer, or other person and detained in jail or
otherwise until a complaint can be made against
him or her for the offense, and until he or she is
taken on a warrant issued upon the complaint, but
detention without a warrant shall not continue more
than twenty-four (24) hours. One-half (1/2)
of any fine imposed under this section shall inure to
the complainant.
SECTION
31. Section 11-12-9 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-12 entitled "Dueling
and Fighting" is
hereby amended to read as follows:
11-12-9. Arrest of
fighters. -- Every sheriff, A deputy sheriff, town
sergeant, constable
or police officer shall immediately arrest in any
county any person violating any of the provisions
of sections 11-12-6 -- 11-12-8, and shall detain the
person until a warrant can be obtained for his
or her arrest.
SECTION
32. Section 11-14-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-14 entitled "False
Personation" is hereby amended to read as follows:
11-14-1.
Impersonation of public officer. -- Every person who shall falsely
assume or
pretend to be a judge, justice of the peace, warden, sheriff,
deputy sheriff, alderman, member of
any city or town council, city or town clerk, city
sergeant, constable, correctional officer, marshal
or deputy marshal, or any other officer of any city or town in this state as well as any
out-of-state
police, and shall act as such, shall be imprisoned not
exceeding one year or be fined not
exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000).
SECTION
33. Section 11-17-11 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-17 entitled
"Forgery
and Counterfeiting" is
hereby amended to read as follows:
11-17-11. Seizure
and destruction of counterfeits and counterfeiting devices. --
Whenever the existence of any false, forged, or
counterfeit bank bills or notes, or any plates, dies,
or other tools, instruments, or implements used by
counterfeiters or designed for the forging or
making of any false or counterfeit notes, coin, or bills,
shall come to the knowledge of any
sheriff,
deputy sheriff, constable or police officer in this state, the officers shall
immediately seize
and take possession of it and deliver it into the
custody of the superior court for the county in
which it shall be, and the court shall, as soon as the
ends of justice will permit, cause it to be
destroyed by an officer of the court, which officer
shall make a return to the court of his or her
doings in the premises.
SECTION
34. Sections 11-25-20 and 11-25-21 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-25
entitled "Jails and
Prisons" are hereby amended to read as follows:
11-25-20. Habeas
corpus for production of prisoner. -- Whenever a writ of habeas
corpus shall issue from either the supreme or superior
court for the production and appearance
before it of a prisoner confined in the adult
correctional institutions, the writ shall be delivered to
the division of sheriffs sheriff of the
county where the prisoner shall be required to be produced
or appear, or to his or her deputy. Whenever the writ is issued from any other court, it
shall be
delivered to the division of sheriffs sheriff
of the county, the deputy, or to any town sergeant or
chief of police or police constable in the
sheriff's county, who shall duly present it to the director
of corrections of the institutions. The director of
corrections shall upon receipt of the writ deliver
the prisoner to the custody of the officer. The
officer shall take and receive the prisoner into his or
her custody, shall duly present the prisoner before
the court pursuant to the command of the writ,
and shall keep and hold the prisoner until by order of
the court he or she shall be recommitted to
the institutions or otherwise disposed of. Upon the
delivery of the custody of the prisoner by the
director of corrections to the officer, the director
of corrections shall endorse the delivery upon
the writ, and the officer shall receipt on the books
of the institutions for custody. The officer,
upon the production of the prisoner in court, shall
further endorse that fact on the writ and deliver
it to the clerk or (if there is no clerk) the
presiding justice; but shall, as an officer of the court,
maintain safe custody of the prisoner until he or she
is, by further order, recommitted or
discharged.
11-25-21. Habeas
corpus -- Training school for youth. -- Whenever a writ of habeas
corpus shall issue from either the supreme, superior
or family court for the production and
appearance before it of a prisoner confined in the
training school for youth, the writ shall be
delivered to the division of sheriffs sheriff
of the county where the prisoner shall be required to be
produced or appear, or to the sheriff's deputy. Whenever the writ is issued from any other court, it
shall be delivered to the division of sheriffs sheriff
of the county, the sheriff's deputy, or to any
town sergeant or chief of police or police constable in
the county, who shall duly present it to the
superintendent of the training school for youth. The
superintendent shall upon receipt of the writ
deliver the prisoner to the custody of the officer.
The officer shall take and receive the prisoner
into his or her custody, shall duly present him or her
before the court pursuant to the commands
of the writ, and shall keep and hold the prisoner
until by order of the court the prisoner shall be
recommitted to the institution or otherwise disposed
of. Upon the delivery of the custody of the
prisoner by the superintendent to the officer, the
superintendent shall endorse the delivery upon
the writ, and the officer shall receipt on the books
of the training school for youth for the custody.
The officer, upon the production of the prisoner in
court, shall further endorse that fact on the writ
and deliver it to the clerk or (if there is no clerk)
the presiding justice; but shall, as an officer of
the court, maintain safe custody of the prisoner until
he or she is, by further order, recommitted or
discharged.
SECTION
35. Section 11-28-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-28 entitled
"Malfeasance and
Misfeasance in Office" is hereby amended to read as follows:
11-28-4. Omission
or delay of duty by sheriff, sergeant, or constable. -- Every sheriff,
A deputy
sheriff, town sergeant, city sergeant or constable, who shall receive from any
defendant
or any other person any money or other valuable thing
as a consideration, reward, or inducement
for omitting or delaying to perform any duty pertaining
to his or her office, shall be imprisoned
not exceeding six (6) months or be fined not exceeding
five hundred dollars ($500).
SECTION
36. Section 11-31-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-31 entitled "Obscene
and Objectionable
Publications and Shows" is hereby amended to read as follows:
11-31-8. Entry
of premises by sheriff or deputies . Entry of premises by deputies. --
The sheriff of any county or any of his deputies Any deputy sheriff, when so directed by him
or
her the director
of the department of public safety, may, in the discharge of their duties,
enter any
exhibition, performance, or place mentioned in this
chapter or chapter 22 of title 5.
SECTION
37. Section 11-32-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-32 entitled
"Obstructing
Justice" is hereby amended to read as follows:
11-32-1.
Obstructing officer in execution of duty. -- Every person who shall
obstruct
any officer, civil, military, or otherwise, including
any state, city, or town police, deputy sheriff,
or fire fighter, while in the execution of his or her
office or duty, shall be imprisoned not
exceeding one year or be fined not exceeding five
hundred dollars ($500).
SECTION
38. Section 11-37.2-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-37.2 entitled
"Sexual
Assault Protective
Orders" is hereby amended to read as follows:
11-37.2-5. Return
of service -- Alternate service. -- (a) The complaint and any order
issued under this chapter shall be personally served
upon the defendant by a sheriff or constable
except as provided in subsection (c), (d) and (f) of
this section. Service shall be made without
payment of any fee when service is made by a deputy
sheriff. At the election of the plaintiff,
service pursuant to this subsection may also be made
by a constable licensed to serve process of
the district court pursuant to section 45-16-4.1. The
constable shall be entitled to receive the fee
allowed by law for the service of a district court
summons.
(b) Return of service
shall be forwarded by the deputy sheriff or constable to the clerk of
the court prior to the date set down for hearing on
the complaint. If service has not been made, the
deputy
sheriff or constable shall indicate on the summons the reason therefor and the attempts
made to serve the defendant.
(c) At the time the
return of service is sent to the clerk of the court, the deputy sheriff
or
constable shall cause a copy of the return of service
to be sent to the plaintiff and to the
appropriate law enforcement agency.
(d) If, at the time of
hearing on the complaint, the court determines that after diligent
effort the deputy sheriff or constable has been
unable to serve the defendant personally, the judge
may order an alternate method of service designed to
give reasonable notice of the action to the
defendant and taking into consideration the
plaintiff's ability to afford the means of service
ordered. Alternative service shall include, but not be
limited to: service by certified and regular
mail at defendant's last known address (excluding the
residence which he or she has been ordered
to vacate) or place of employment, leaving copies at
the defendant's dwelling or usual place of
abode with a person of suitable age and discretion
residing therein, or by publication in a
newspaper for two (2) consecutive weeks. The court
shall set a new date for hearing on the
complaint and shall extend the temporary order until
that date.
(e) If the defendant
appears in person before the court, the necessity for further service is
waived and proof of service of that order is not
necessary.
(f) If the defendant is
served notice regarding the complaint and hearing, but does not
appear at the hearing, the clerk of the district court
shall mail the defendant a copy of the resulting
order.
(g) When service of the
temporary order issued pursuant to this section has not been
made and/or after a permanent order is entered, a
police officer shall give notice of the order to
the defendant by handing him or her a certified copy
of the order. The officer shall indicate that
he or she has given notice by writing on the
plaintiff's copy of the order and the police
department's copy of the order the date and time of
giving notice and the officer's name and badge
number. The officer shall indicate on the offense
report that actual notice was given.
SECTION
39. Section 11-43-10 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-43 entitled
"Treason
and Related Offenses"
is hereby amended to read as follows:
11-43-10. Arrest
and commitment of persons charged. -- Whenever any person shall
be adjudged to be probably guilty of any offense under
this chapter, he or she may be committed
to the adult correctional institutions in any county, there
to remain until discharged by order of
law, and warrant of commitment shall issue
accordingly, directed to the sheriff or the sheriff 's
deputy division
of sheriffs or to either of the city or town sergeants or constables in the
same
county with himself or herself, and to the warden of
the adult correctional institutions, which
warrant may be executed by the officer charged with
it, although beyond his or her precinct, and
shall constitute him or her, while charged with it, an
officer, the obstructing of whom, while in
the execution of this office, shall be punished as is
or may be by law in other cases provided.
SECTION
40. Section 11-44-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-44 entitled
"Trespass
and Vandalism" is
hereby amended to read as follows:
11-44-3. Arrest
and detention of persons taking fruits and vegetables. -- Every
sheriff,
deputy sheriff, town or city sergeant, constable, or police officer, who shall
discover any
person or persons in the act of taking and carrying
away any growing fruit or vegetables as
prohibited by section 11-44-2, shall arrest that
person or persons and detain the person or persons
in custody until a complaint can be made against him,
her, or them for the offense for which he,
she, or they shall have been arrested and until he,
she, or they be taken on a warrant issued upon
the complaint; provided, that the arrest and detention
without a warrant shall not continue longer
than the space of twenty-four (24) hours.
SECTION
41. Sections 11-47-21, 11-47-51 and 11-47-55 of the General Laws in Chapter
11-47 entitled
"Weapons" are hereby amended to read as follows:
11-47-21.
Restrictions on possession or carrying of explosives or noxious substances.
-- Any person,
except a member of the state police, the sheriff or the sheriff 's deputies
division of
sheriffs, a
member of the police force of any city or town, or a member of the Army, Navy,
Air
Force, or Marine Corps of the
on duty, who possesses, or carries on or about his or
her person or in a vehicle, a bomb or
bombshell, except for blasting or other commercial
use, or who, with intent to use it unlawfully
against the person or property of another, possesses
or carries any explosive substance, or any
noxious liquid, gas, or substance, shall be guilty of
a violation of this chapter and punished as
provided in section 11-47-26.
11-47-51. Loaded
weapons in vehicles. -- It is unlawful for any person to have in his or
her possession a loaded rifle or loaded shotgun or a
rifle or shotgun from the magazine of which
all shells and cartridges have not been removed in or
on any vehicle or conveyance or its
attachments while upon or along any public highway,
road, lane, or trail within this state;
provided, that the provisions of this section shall
not apply to sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, the
superintendent and members of the state police, prison
or jail wardens or their deputies, members
of the city or town police force, investigators of the
department of attorney general appointed
pursuant to section 42-9-8.1, the director, assistant
director and other inspectors and agents at the
appointed law enforcement officers, including
conservation officers, nor to members of the
Army, Navy, Air force, or Marine Corps of the
reserves, when on duty, nor to officers or employees
of the
carry a concealed firearm, nor to any civilian guard
or criminal investigator carrying sidearms or
a concealed firearm in the performance of his or her official
duties under the authority of the
commanding officer of the military establishment in
the state of
employed by the
11-47-55.
Enforcement of chapter. -- Sheriffs, deputy Deputy
sheriffs, the
superintendent and members of the state police,
members of the city or town police force, or other
duly appointed law enforcement officers, including
conservation officers, shall have the power to
enforce the provisions of this chapter.
SECTION
42. Sections 12-5-3 and 12-5-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 12-5 entitled
"Search Warrants"
are hereby amended to read as follows:
12-5-3. Issuance
and contents. -- (a) A warrant shall issue only upon complaint in
writing, under oath of:
(1) A chief of police,
deputy chief of police or other members of the police force of any
city or town, sheriff, or deputy sheriff of any
county, member of the division of state police, full
time conservation officer of the department of
environmental management, or other person
specifically authorized by law to bring complaints for
violation of the law which it is his or her
responsibility to enforce;
(2) Additionally, in
the case of property stolen, embezzled, or obtained by fraud or false
pretenses, any person who has a right to the
possession of the property.
(b) Within fourteen
(14) days of the issuance of any warrant under this chapter, whether
or not executed, the warrant, accompanied by any
supporting affidavits and an inventory of any
property seized, shall be returned to the district
court having jurisdiction over the place of the
search or, in the event of a warrant that is not
executed, the court from which it was issued. The
returns shall be maintained by the district court according
to the date of issuance. If not otherwise
indicated, the return shall note whether the warrant
was executed.
12-5-8. Hearing
upon seizure of matter alleged to be obscene. -- Whenever any
sheriff,
deputy sheriff, municipal or state police officer, or any other person
authorized by law to
execute a search warrant shall seize any property
alleged to be obscene, pursuant to a search
warrant issued under the provisions of this chapter,
the person in whose possession it is found or
who claims a proprietary interest in it shall be
entitled to a hearing before the superior court on
the question of whether or not the property is obscene
within three (3) days of the time a written
demand is submitted to a judge of the superior court
and notice served upon the attorney general,
or in the case of towns and cities the chief legal
officer of the town or city, and if a hearing is
held, the court shall render a decision on the
question within forty-eight (48) hours of the
conclusion of the hearing. If by the decision the
court determines that the matter is not obscene, it
shall be immediately returned to the person.
SECTION
43. Sections 12-6-7 and 12-6-7.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 12-6 entitled
"Warrants for
Arrest" are hereby amended to read as follows:
12-6-7. Warrants
issued to other divisions. -- Whenever any judge of the district court,
or any justice of the peace, shall issue his or her
warrant against any person charged with an
offense committed in a division of the district court,
and the person so charged shall escape into,
reside, or be in any other county than the one in
which the division is, the judge or justice of the
peace may direct his or her warrant to each and all sheriffs,
deputy sheriffs, city or town
sergeants, and constables within the state, requiring
them to apprehend the person and bring him
or her before the division of the district court
having jurisdiction of the offense, to be dealt with
according to law; the officers shall obey and execute
the warrant, and be protected from
obstruction and assault in executing the warrant as in
service of other process.
12-6-7.1. Service
of arrest warrants. -- (a) Whenever any judge of any court shall issue
his or her warrant against any person for failure to
appear or comply with a court order, or for
failure to make payment of a court ordered fine, civil
assessment, or order of restitution, the judge
may direct the warrant to each and all sheriffs and
deputy sheriffs, the warrant squad, or any
peace officer as defined in section 12-7-21, requiring
them to apprehend the person and bring him
or her before the court to be dealt with according to
law; and the officers shall obey and execute
the warrant, and be protected from obstruction and
assault in executing the warrant as in service
of other process. The person apprehended shall, in
addition to any other costs incurred by him or
her, be ordered to pay a fee for service of this
warrant in the sum of one hundred twenty-five
dollars ($125). Twenty-five dollars ($25.00) of the
above fee collected as a result of a warrant
squad arrest shall be divided among the local law
enforcement agencies assigned to the warrant
squad. Any person apprehended on a warrant for failure
to appear for a cost review hearing in the
superior court may be released upon posting with a
justice of the peace the full amount due and
owing in court costs as described in the warrant or
bail in an other amount or form that will
ensure the defendant's appearance in the superior
court at an ability to pay hearing, in addition to
the one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125) warrant
assessment fee described above. Any person
detained as a result of the actions of the justice of
the peace in acting upon the superior court cost
warrant shall be brought before the superior court at
its next session. Such monies shall be
delivered by the justice of the peace to the court
issuing the warrant on the next court business
day.
(b) Any person arrested
pursuant to a warrant issued by a municipal court may be
presented to a judge of the district court, or a
justice of the peace authorized to issue warrants
pursuant to section 12-10-2, for release on personal
recognizance or bail when the municipal
court is not in session. The provisions of this
section shall apply only to criminal and not civil
cases pending before the courts.
(c) Any person arrested
pursuant to a warrant issued hereunder shall:
(1) be immediately
brought before the court;
(2) if the court is not
in session then the person shall be brought before the court at its
next session;
(3) be afforded a
review hearing on his/her ability to pay within forty-eight (48) hours;
and
(4) if the court is not
in session at the time of the arrest, a review hearing on his/her
ability to pay will be provided at the time for the
first court appearance, as set forth in subsection
(c)(3) of this section.
SECTION
44. Section 12-13-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 12-13 entitled "Bail
and
Recognizance" is
hereby amended to read as follows:
12-13-2. Warrant
for apprehension of accused person. -- Any court before which an
indictment or information shall be found or be
pending, and any court before which a complaint
shall be made or be pending, against any person for an
offense of which the court has cognizance,
may issue a warrant directed to each and all sheriffs,
deputy sheriffs, town sergeants, and
constables within the state requiring them to apprehend
the person and bring him or her before the
court, if the court is in session, or if not, to
commit him or her to jail in the county in which the
indictment, information, or complaint is pending,
there to be kept until he or she shall be brought
before the court, or until he or she shall give
recognizance before some person authorized to take
recognizance for the offense, with sufficient surety
or sureties in the sum named in the warrant, if
any sum is named in the warrant, and, if not, in the
sum as the person taking the recognizance
shall deem reasonable if the offense is bailable, to appear before the court in which the
indictment, information, or complaint is pending, at
the time required by the person so taking the
recognizance, and to answer the indictment,
information, or complaint; provided, that the prisoner
may give the recognizance while in the custody of the
officer before he or she is committed to jail
before some person authorized to take recognizance for
the offense, and upon taking
recognizance the officer shall discharge the prisoner
from his or her custody. The officers to
whom the warrant shall be directed are required to
obey and execute it, and in its execution shall
be protected from obstruction and assault, as in the
service of other process.
SECTION
45. Sections 12-19-25 and 12-19-27 of the General Laws in Chapter 12-19
entitled "Sentence and
Execution" are hereby amended to read as follows:
12-19-25. Warrant
for commitment to institutions. -- Whenever any person shall be
sentenced to imprisonment, the clerk of the court
passing the sentence shall immediately issue a
warrant, under the seal of the court, directed to the
sheriff or the sheriff 's deputy of the county in
which the court is held the division of sheriffs, reciting the
sentence and requiring the sheriff or
the sheriff 's deputy a deputy sheriff to take the person and
deliver to the warden of the adult
correctional institutions and the warden to receive
the person into his or her custody and safely
keep him or her in the institutions during the term
specified in the sentence, and the warrant shall
constitute the officer charged with it, while he or
she has it in his or her possession for service, an
officer in any county in this state into which it may
be necessary for him or her to go, to all
intents and purposes whatsoever.
12-19-27.
Commitment to training school for youth. -- Whenever any person shall
be
sentenced to imprisonment in the state training school
for youth, the court passing the sentence
shall immediately issue a warrant, under the seal of
the court, directed to the sheriff or the sheriff
's deputy of the county the division of sheriffs, or to any town
sergeant or constable of any county
in which the court is held, reciting the sentence and
requiring the sheriff or deputy a deputy
sheriff,
town sergeant, or constable to take the person so sentenced and deliver him or
her to the
superintendent of the training school, and the warrant
shall constitute the officer charged with it,
while he or she has the warrant in his or her
possession for service, an officer in any county in
this state into which it may be necessary for him to
go, to all intents and purposes whatsoever.
SECTION
46. Section 12-20-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 12-20 entitled
"Costs" is
hereby amended to read as
follows:
12-20-4. Sheriff's
fees on scire facias. --
The fees chargeable by sheriffs and deputy
sheriffs for serving writs and executions in scire facias against bail in
criminal cases shall be the
same as provided for similar service of writs and
executions in civil cases.
SECTION
47. Section 12-21-23 of the General Laws in Chapter 12-21 entitled
"Recovery of Fines,
Penalties, and Forfeitures" is hereby amended to read as follows:
12-21-23. Seizure
and retention of forfeited property. -- Whenever any personal
property shall be forfeited for any violation of law,
any sheriff, deputy sheriff, town sergeant, or
constable within his or her precinct, or any
person by law authorized to seize the property, may
take and retain the property until he or she shall
deliver it to a proper officer having a warrant to
take and detain the property.
SECTION
48. Section 15-15-4.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 15-15 entitled
"Domestic Abuse
Prevention" is hereby amended to read as follows:
15-15-4.1. Return
of service/alternate service. -- (a) The complaint and any order
issued under this chapter shall be personally served
upon the defendant by a sheriff member of
the division of sheriffs except as provided in subsections (c), (d) and (f) of
this section. Service
shall be made without payment of any fee when service
is made by a deputy sheriff. At the
election of the plaintiff, service, pursuant to the
subsection, may also be made by a constable
authorized to serve process of the family court
pursuant to section 45-16-4.3. The constable shall
be entitled to receive the fee allowed by law for the
service of a family court summons. Where
the defendant is a minor, the complaint and any order
issued under this chapter shall also be
personally served upon a parent or guardian of the
minor.
(b) Return of service
shall be forwarded by the deputy sheriff or constable to the clerk of
court prior to the date set down for a hearing on the
complaint. If service has not been made, the
deputy
sheriff or constable shall indicate on the summons the reason and the attempts
made to
serve the defendant.
(c) At the time the
return of service is sent to the clerk of the court, the deputy sheriff
or
constable shall cause a copy of the return of service
to be sent to the plaintiff and to the
appropriate law enforcement agency.
(d) If, at the time of the
hearing on the complaint, the court determines that after diligent
effort the deputy sheriff or constable has been
unable to serve the defendant personally, the judge
may order an alternate method of service designed to
give reasonable notice of the action to the
defendant and taking into consideration the
plaintiff's ability to afford the means of service
ordered. Alternative service shall include, but not be
limited to: service by certified and regular
mail at defendant's last known address (excluding the
residence which he or she has been ordered
to vacate) or place of employment, leaving copies at
the defendant's dwelling or usual place of
abode with a person of suitable age and discretion
residing at the defendant's dwelling or usual
place of abode, or by publication in a newspaper for
two (2) consecutive weeks. The court shall
set a new date for the hearing on the complaint and
shall extend the temporary order until that
date.
(e) If the defendant appears
in person before the court, the necessity for further service is
waived and proof of service of that order is not
necessary.
(f) If the defendant is
served notice regarding the complaint and hearing, but does not
appear at the hearing, the clerk of the family court
will mail the defendant a copy of the resulting
order.
SECTION
49. Section 19-26-13 of the General Laws in Chapter 19-26 entitled
"Pawnbrokers" is
hereby amended to read as follows:
19-26-13. Search
of premises on warrant. -- Whenever complaint shall be made by any
person, on oath to a judge, that any property
belonging to that person has been lodged or pledged
without his or her consent with any pawnbroker and
that the complainant believes the property to
be in some house or place within the county where the
complaint is made, the judge shall, if
satisfied of the reasonableness of that belief, issue
a warrant directed to the sheriff, the sheriff's
deputy division
of sheriffs, or to either of the town sergeants or constables in the
county,
commanding them to search for the property alleged to
have been so lodged or pledged and to
seize and bring the property before the division of
the district court. The warrant shall be issued
and served as search warrants are now by law required
to be issued and served.
SECTION
50. Section 20-13-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 20-13 entitled "Hunting
and Hunting Safety" is
hereby amended to read as follows:
20-13-8. Loaded
weapons in vehicles. -- It is unlawful for any person to have in his or
her possession a loaded rifle or loaded shotgun or a
rifle or shotgun from the magazine of which
all shells and cartridges have not been removed, in or
on any vehicle or conveyance or its
attachments while upon or along any public highway,
road, lane, or trail within this state;
provided, however, that the provisions of this section
shall not apply to sheriffs, deputy sheriffs,
the superintendent and members of the state police,
prison or jail wardens or their deputies,
members of the city or town police force, or other
duly appointed law enforcement officers
including conservation officers and park police, nor
to members of the army, navy, air force, and
marine corps of the
officers or employees of the
any civilian guard or criminal investigator carrying sidearms or a concealed firearm in the
performance of his or her official duties under the
authority of the commanding officer of the
military establishment in the state of
States.
SECTION
51. Section 22-4-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 22-4 entitled
"Exemptions
and Liabilities of
Members" is hereby amended to read as follows:
22-4-1. Warrants
to compel attendance. -- The attendance of senators elect and
representatives elect, and of senators and
representatives, may be compelled by warrant for that
purpose under the hand of the presiding officer for
the time being of the senate or house of
representatives, as the case may be, directed to any sheriff
or deputy sheriff, which warrant may
be executed by that officer in any county.
SECTION
52. Section 22-6-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 22-6 entitled
"Committees
and Staff" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
22-6-1. Sheriffs
and deputies in attendance Deputy sheriffs in attendance. -- The
number of deputy sheriffs or their deputies
who shall attend upon the general assembly, at any
session of it, shall not exceed three (3) in both
chambers, unless by special order of the general
assembly.
SECTION
53. Section 24-12-13 of the General Laws in Chapter 24-12 entitled "Rhode
24-12-13. Deposits
in court on eminent domain -- Notice to owners -- Agreement as
to price. -- No sum paid into the court as provided in section 24-12-12 shall be
charged with
clerk's fees of any nature. After the filing of the
copy, plat, and statement, notice of the taking of
the land, or interest therein, shall be served upon
the owners of and persons having an estate in
and interested in the land by the sheriff or the
sheriff's deputies of the county in which the land, or
interest therein, lies a member of the division of sheriffs, leaving
a true and attested copy of the
description and statement with each of the persons
personally, or at their last and usual place of
abode in this state with some person living there, and
in case any of the persons are absent from
this state and have no last and usual place of abode
therein occupied by any person, the copy shall
be left with the persons, if any, in charge of or
having possession of the land, or interest therein,
taken of the absent persons if the same are known to
the officer; and after the filing of the
resolution, plat and statement, the secretary of the
authority shall cause a copy of the resolution
and statement to be published in some newspaper
published in the county where the land, or
interest therein, may be located, at least once a week
for three (3) successive weeks. If any person
shall agree with the authority for the price of the
land, or interest therein, so taken, the court upon
the application of the parties in interest, may order
that the sum agreed upon be paid immediately
from the money deposited, as the just compensation to
be awarded in the proceeding.
SECTION
54. Section 28-2-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 28-2 entitled "Duty of
Law
Enforcement Officers"
is hereby amended to read as follows:
28-2-8. Duty of
law enforcement officers to seek unemployed persons. -- After the
issuance of the proclamation in section 28-2-1, it
shall be the duty of the sheriffs and deputy
sheriffs of the respective counties a member of the division of sheriffs and of
any other officer,
state, county, or municipality charged with enforcing
the law, to seek and continue to seek
diligently the names and places of residence of
able-bodied male persons within their respective
jurisdictions between the ages of eighteen (18) and
fifty (50) not regularly or continuously
employed.
SECTION
55. Section 28-10-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 28-10 entitled "Labor
Disputes" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
28-10-6.
"Person" defined. -- Whenever used in sections 28-10-7 and
28-10-8, the word
"person" means any individual, firm,
association, corporation, or law enforcement agency,
provided, that the word does not include any member of
a city or town police department, any
member of the division of state police, any sheriff
or deputy sheriff, or any member of the militia
of this state while acting in the course of duty and
under the direction and order of any superior
officer.
SECTION
56. Sections 28-14-26, 28-14-27 and 28-14-29 of the General Laws in Chapter
28-14 entitled
"Payment of Wages" are hereby amended to read as follows:
28-14-26. Service
of process. -- Any sheriff or deputy sheriff requested by the
director to
serve summons, writs, complaints, orders, including
any garnishment papers and all necessary
and legal papers, within his or her jurisdiction,
shall do so without requiring the director to
advance the fees or furnish any security or bond.
28-14-27.
Attachment of property. -- Whenever the director requires the
sheriff or a
deputy sheriff whose duty it is to seize property or
levy on property in any attachment
proceedings to satisfy any wage claim judgment to
perform any duty, the officer shall do so
without requiring the director to furnish any security
or bond in the action, and the officer in
carrying out the provisions of this section shall not
be responsible in damages for any wrongful
seizure made in good faith.
28-14-29. Order of
payment of fees and claims. -- Out of any recovery on a judgment
in a suit there shall be paid:
(1) First, the
garnishee's and witness fees;
(2) Second, the wage
claims involved;
(3) Third, the sheriff's
or deputy sheriff's fees; and
(4) Fourth, the court
costs.
SECTION
57. Section 30-1-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 30-1 entitled
"Militia" is
hereby amended to read as
follows:
30-1-7. Persons
exempt. -- The following persons shall be exempt from militia duty:
(1) Persons exempt from
militia duty by the laws of the
(2) Persons who have
held the office of governor or lieutenant-governor of the state; and
(3) Persons of the following
description, so long as they shall remain of the description:
(A) The
lieutenant-governor;
(B) The secretary of
state;
(C) The attorney
general and the assistant attorneys general;
(D) The general
treasurer;
(E) Director of
administration;
(F) The budget officer
and the controller both of the department of administration;
(G) The commissioner of
the department of education;
(H) The members of both
houses of the general assembly and the officers of those
houses;
(I) The justices and
clerks of courts of record;
(J) The recorder of
deeds;
(K) Sheriffs and
deputy Deputy sheriffs;
(L) The director of the
department of human services;
(M) The assistant director
of social and rehabilitative services in charge of the
community services division;
(N) Mayors of cities;
(O) Members of the city
and town councils;
(P) City and town
clerks;
(Q) City and town
treasurers;
(R) Ministers of the
gospel;
(S) Practicing
physicians;
(T) Superintendents,
officers and assistants employed in or about any of the state
hospitals, state infirmaries, state reformatories,
state prisons, jails or houses of correction;
(U) Keepers of
lighthouses;
(V) Marine pilots;
(W) Seamen actually
employed on board of any vessel; and
(X) Active members of
fire companies who are part of the active fire department of the
town or city in which they reside, not exceeding
twenty (20) persons to any one company, unless
otherwise provided by special enactment.
SECTION
58. Section 30-9-11 of the General Laws in Chapter 30-9 entitled "Military
Property" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
30-9-11. Search
warrant. -- Any court of the state empowered to issue search warrants,
on complaint on oath made to it by the adjutant
general, by any commissioned officer authorized
by the adjutant general, or by, any commanding officer
of any organization, unit, or separate
detachment of the national guard, that any arms,
ammunition, uniforms, equipment, supplies, or
other military property of the state or for which the
state is responsible is unlawfully being
withheld by any person within the jurisdiction of the
court, and where the military property is
believed to be in a particular place specified in the
complaint, shall issue to any sheriff, deputy
sheriff, town sergeant, member of any municipal or
state police, or constable a warrant in the
nature of a search warrant, commanding him or her in
the name of the state diligently to search
the house or place described therein, in the daytime
and upon the finding of the military property
the court issuing the warrant shall order the property
to be delivered to the officer making the
complaint.
SECTION
59. Section 30-13-126 of the General Laws in Chapter 30-13 entitled "Rhode
30-13-126.
Execution of processes and sentences. -- In addition to the officers
prescribed under the laws and regulations of the
processes and sentences of the military courts of the
state military forces shall be directed to and
executed by any sheriff or deputy sheriff, town
sergeant, constable, member of the state police, or
member of the police department of any municipality,
or any officer or enlisted person of the
state military forces appointed by the court to serve
or execute processes and sentences.
SECTION
60. Section 31-1-21 of the General Laws in Chapter 31-1 entitled
"Definitions
and General Code
Provisions" is hereby amended to read as follows:
31-1-21.
Enforcement officers. -- (a) "Police Officer" means every
officer authorized to
direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for
violations of traffic regulations or the administrator
of the division of motor vehicles and up to five (5)
subordinates designated by the administrator
under the provisions of section 31-2-3.
(b) "Proper
Officer" means for the purposes of chapters 1 -- 50 of this title, any
member
of the state or municipal police, sheriff or
deputy sheriff, city or town sergeant, the administrator
of the division of motor vehicles, or any subordinate
appointed by the administrator of the
division of motor vehicles under the provisions of
section 31-2-3.
SECTION
61. Section 32-2-11 of the General Laws in Chapter 32-2 entitled
"Metropolitan Park
District" is hereby amended to read as follows:
32-2-11. Powers of
park police. -- All full time park policemen assigned to the division
of enforcement within the department of environmental
management, including the chief of the
division and the chief of the metropolitan park police,
shall have and may exercise, on any
property under the jurisdiction of the department of
environmental management, with regard to
the enforcement of the criminal laws and all rules and
regulations of the department of
environmental management, all the powers of sheriffs,
deputy sheriffs, town police officers, and
constables, provided, however, that when any person is
suspected of having committed a felony,
the superintendent of state police, as he or she shall
so require, shall be notified.
SECTION
62. Section 32-3-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 32-3 entitled "Town
Forests, Parks, and
Recreation Systems" is hereby amended to read as follows:
32-3-1. Local
regulations -- Prosecution of violations. -- Town councils and city
councils may pass such ordinances, by-laws, and
regulations as they may think proper in relation
to the care, management, and use of the public parks,
squares, or grounds within the limits of
their respective towns or cities, and may prescribe
punishment for the violation thereof by a fine
not exceeding twenty dollars ($20.00) or by
imprisonment not exceeding ten (10) days for each
offense. Every sheriff, deputy sheriff, town
sergeant, constable, or police officer, or any officer
authorized to serve criminal process, may arrest
without a warrant any person who does any
criminal act or wilfully
willfully violates any of those ordinances, bylaw, or regulation in any
of
those public parks, squares or grounds, and may detain
that person until a complaint can be made
against him or her, and he or she can be taken upon a
warrant issued upon that complaint;
provided, that the arrest and detention without a
warrant shall not continue longer than the space
of six (6) hours when the arrest is made between the
hours of 4 o'clock in the morning (4:00 a.m.)
and 8 o'clock in the evening (8:00 p.m.), and when
made at any other hour, the person arrested
shall not be detained after 10 o'clock in the morning
(10:00 a.m.) of the following day.
SECTION
63. Section 33-22-12 of the General Laws in Chapter 33-22 entitled
"Practice
in Probate Courts" is
hereby amended to read as follows:
33-22-12. Notice
by service or mail. -- Notice may also be given, in addition to the
foregoing, in any one of the following modes:
(1) By causing a
citation to be served, if within this state, by a sheriff, deputy
sheriff,
town sergeant, or constable, and, if outside the
state, by some disinterested person, upon all
known parties interested, at least seven (7) days
before proceeding. The citation shall give notice
of the subject matter of the proceeding and of the
time and place thereof, and shall be served by
reading the citation to each of the parties or by
leaving an attested copy of the citation with him or
her or at his or her last and usual place of abode
with some person living there. If service is made
outside the state, the person making the service shall
make return under oath of the manner in
which, the time when, and the place where service was made.
(2) By mailing notice
to all persons interested whose post office addresses are known.
SECTION
64. Sections 34-14-5 and 34-14-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-14
entitled "Waste and Estrepement" are hereby amended to read as follows:
34-14-5. Issuance
of writ of estrepement. -- The superior court
for any county, on the
application of the plaintiff, in an action for ejectment, partition, or waste, may issue a writ of
estrepement, under the provisions following, directed to the sheriff
or to the sheriff's deputies in
the county in which the estate in question shall be division of sheriffs, requiring the deputy
sheriff
to stay all the waste on the estate that shall be
described in the writ of estrepement.
34-14-6. Power of sheriff
to stay waste. -- The sheriff or the sheriff's deputy members
of
the division of sheriffs, charged with the service of a writ of estrepement, shall have power to stay
all waste, as shall be directed in the writ, and to
take such aid as shall be necessary for that
purpose.
SECTION
65. Sections 34-18-10, 34-18-48 and 34-18-50 of the General Laws in Chapter
34-18 entitled
"Residential Landlord and Tenant Act" are hereby amended to read as
follows:
34-18-10. Service of
process for actions pursuant to chapter. -- (a) (1) In actions for
nonpayment of rent, the summons for eviction for
nonpayment of rent shall be in the form
provided in section 34-18-56(g). At the time of filing
of the complaint, the clerk shall mark the
date of hearing upon the summons, which shall be the
ninth (9th) day after filing of the
complaint, or the first court day following the ninth
(9th) day. For the purposes of this section
only, the time of filing of the complaint shall be the
date upon which the clerk assigns a case
number to the action and the filing fee is paid to the
clerk. On the same day that the complaint is
filed, the plaintiff's attorney or, if pro se, the
plaintiff, or if more than one, the person filing the
complaint shall mail a copy of the summons and
complaint and a blank answer form as provided
in section 34-18-56(j) by first class mail, to the
defendant, shall complete the proof of service on
a copy of the original summons and file the completed
proof of service in the appropriate court.
The clerk shall note on the docket the mailing date of
the summons and complaint, and shall
complete the proof of service on the original summons.
The plaintiff shall deliver the original
summons and a copy thereof, together with a copy of
the complaint and a blank answer form to
the sheriff division of sheriffs or any
constable of the county in which the appropriate court is
located. The officer receiving the copies shall serve
them by:
(i)
Handing them to the defendant; or
(ii) Serving them at
the defendant's dwelling unit to a person of suitable age and
discretion then residing therein; or
(iii) If none be found,
by posting them conspicuously on the door to defendant's dwelling
unit.
(2) The deputy
sheriff or constable serving the summons and complaint shall make proof
of service on the original summons and shall file it
with the clerk of the appropriate court at or
before the time of the hearing. The proof of service shall
show the manner and the day, hour, and
place of service, and shall show that the defendant
was served no less than five (5) days before
the hearing.
(b) In all actions
pursuant to this chapter other than for nonpayment of rent, the
procedure shall be as follows:
(1) The summons for
eviction actions pursuant to sections 34-18-36 and 34-18-38 shall
be in the form provided in section 34-18-56(h). A
blank answer, in the form provided in section
34-18-56(j) shall be served together with this
summons.
(2) The summons in all
other actions pursuant to this chapter shall be in the form
provided in section 34-18-56(i).
Service shall be made pursuant to Rule 4 of the district court
civil rules, or other appropriate rule of court.
(c) If a landlord or
tenant is not a resident of this state or is a corporation not authorized
to do business in this state and engages in any
conduct in this state governed by this chapter, or
engages in a transaction subject to this chapter, he
or she may designate an agent upon whom
service of process may be made in this state. The
agent shall be a resident of this state or a
corporation authorized to do business in this state.
The designation shall be in writing and filed
with the secretary of state. If no designation is made
and filed or if the process cannot be served
in this state upon the designated agent, process may
be served upon the secretary of state, but
service upon the secretary of state is not effective
unless the plaintiff or petitioner forthwith mails
a copy of the process and pleading by registered or
certified mail to the defendant or respondent
at his or her last reasonably ascertainable address.
An affidavit of compliance with this subsection
shall be filed with the clerk of the court on or
before the return day of the process, if any, or
within any further time the court allows.
(d) If at time of
hearing it appears that the clerk failed to provide mail service as required
by subsection (a), or that the mailed service was
undeliverable, service shall nevertheless be
deemed complete if proof of service reflects that
service was accomplished in accordance with
subsection (a)(1)(i) or (ii)
of this section. If mailed service was defective and the tenant was
prejudiced by shorter notice of the hearing, the
tenant may seek the benefits of section 34-18-
35(d) for late filing of discovery, if justice
requires.
34-18-48.
Execution. -- If no appeal is claimed, and if the judgment has not been
satisfied, execution shall be issued on the sixth
(6th) day following judgment. Executions shall be
issued only to the sheriff or constable of the
county where the premises are situated division of
sheriffs.
Every execution issued by any district court pursuant to this chapter shall
continue in full
force and effect for one year after the date thereof,
and be returnable to the district court which
issued it in accordance with the provisions of section
9-25-21. All costs including reasonable
moving costs incurred by the sheriff division
of sheriffs or constable in carrying out the mandates
of the execution may be added to the execution by the
clerk upon approval of the court upon
presentment of evidence of the costs.
34-18-50. Payment
of moving costs required. -- Whenever the personal property of any
tenant is removed from the premises the tenant
occupies by mandate of an execution from the
court of competent jurisdiction, the tenant shall pay
the entire amount of the cost of moving the
personal property and any prepaid storage charges to
the sheriff division of sheriffs, constable, or
other person who lawfully caused the personal property
to be so moved before the personal
property can be released to the tenant by the person,
firm, partnership, company, association, or
corporation having lawful possession of the property.
Further, the sheriff division of sheriffs,
constable, or other person who lawfully caused the
personal property to be so moved shall
prepare and deliver a release in writing stating that
the costs of moving and any prepaid storage
charges have been paid in full and authorizing the
release of the personal property to the tenant.
This amount shall be paid to the landlord as
reimbursement for the costs of removing the personal
property.
SECTION
66. Section 34-18.1-9 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-18.1 entitled
"Commercial Leasing
and Other Estates" is hereby amended to read as follows:
34-18.1-9.
Delinquency in rent -- Repossession by ejectment --
Judgment. -- (a) All
suits for possession of lands, buildings or parts of
buildings covered by this chapter shall be by
the ordinary process of actions for possession or
otherwise as provided by law.
(b) (1) If, in any case
of a letting covered by this chapter, whether by writing or parol,
the stipulated rent, or any part of the same, be due
and in arrear for a period of fifteen (15) days,
whether demanded or not, the landlord or reversioner wishing to repossess him or herself of the
lands, building or parts of buildings let, or recover
possession of the same from the tenant, or any
person holding under him or her, shall, without the
necessity of notice, institute a trespass and
action for possession in the district court where the
premises are situated, and in this action the
court may award a plaintiff judgment for possession
and for all rent due plus costs.
(2) For cause shown the
justice of the district court may issue a special order providing
for the method of service of process upon the
defendant.
(3) Answer to the
summons and complaint shall be made within seven (7) days of the
service upon the defendant. The action shall be heard
on the next court day following the seven
(7) day period, and shall take precedence on the
calendar. If no answer is filed within the time
prescribed, judgment shall enter forthwith.
(4) Any aggrieved party
may appeal to the superior court from a judgment of the district
court by claiming such appeal in writing filed with
the clerk within forty-eight (48) hours,
exclusive of Sundays and legal holidays, after the
judgment is entered.
(5) All such court
actions shall have precedence on the calendar and shall continue to
have precedence on the calendar on a day-to-day basis
until the matter is heard.
(c) (1) Executions
shall be issued only to the sheriff division of sheriffs or
constable of
the county where the premises are situated and he or
she shall execute the mandates therein
contained within twenty (20) days of its issuance. If
the sheriff member of the division of sheriffs
or constable fails to execute the mandates within the
prescribed time, the sheriff member of the
division of sheriffs or constable shall appear before a justice of the court issuing the
execution at
the regular session of the court next following the
twenty (20) days to show cause why the
mandates of the execution have not been carried out.
(2) All costs,
including reasonable moving costs incurred by the sheriff member of the
division of sheriffs or constable in carrying out the mandates of the execution may be
added to
the execution by the clerk upon approval of the court
upon presentment of evidence of the costs.
SECTION
67. Section 34-21-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-21 entitled "Replevin"
is hereby amended to read
as follows:
34-21-3. Service
of writ where sheriff or deputy is party Service of writ where
deputy is party. -- If any sheriff or deputy sheriff is a party to
the suit, then the writ shall be
directed to and served by either of the town sergeants
or constables in the county in which the
same is to be served.
SECTION
68. Section 34-28-15 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-28 entitled
"Mechanics'
Liens" is hereby amended to read as follows:
34-28-15. Contents
and service of citation to owners and encumbrancers.
-- (a) Every
citation issued under section 34-28-14 shall contain a
copy of the complaint and shall be served
on the parties by a sheriff or deputy sheriff
or constable at least five (5) days before the return day
of the citation, by leaving an attested copy at the
last and usual place of abode of each of the
persons to be cited or by reading the citation in their
presence and hearing, if they reside in this
state, otherwise by mailing the citation, by
registered or certified mail, to the persons prepaid,
addressed to their last known residence or place of
business, and if no residence or place of
business is known, no further service shall be
necessary, other than service by advertisement
provided for in section 34-28-14.
(b) The citation noted
in the aforesaid section shall be in a form established by the
superior court.
SECTION
69. Section 34-35-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-35 entitled
"Enforcement of Common
Law and Contractual Liens" is hereby amended to read as follows:
34-35-3. Service
of citation. -- The citation shall contain the substance of the
complaint
and shall be served on the owner by a sheriff or
deputy sheriff, at least ten (10) days before the
return day of the citation, by leaving an attested
copy at the last and usual place of abode of the
owner, or by reading the same in his or her presence
and hearing, if he or she resides in this state.
If the owner resides outside the state, the citation
may be served upon him or her in the manner
prescribed by law for service of subpoenas on
nonresident defendants.
SECTION
70. Sections 35-6-22, 35-6-23, 35-6-24, 35-6-25 and 35-6-31 of the General
Laws in Chapter 35-6
entitled "Accounts and Control" are hereby amended to read as
follows:
35-6-22. Forms for
costs of summoning state witnesses in criminal cases. -- The
department of administration, at every session of the
superior court, shall provide the sheriff or
deputy sheriff, who shall be selected by the attorney
general to summon witnesses in criminal
cases before the court in behalf of the state, with
suitable books for the certificates of the travel
and attendance of witnesses summoned and attending the
court in behalf of the state, and for the
certificates of the fees of officers for summoning the
witnesses, and for serving other criminal
process in behalf of the state at each session.
35-6-23. Payment
of costs of witnesses in criminal cases. -- Whenever any witness
shall have been discharged from further attendance at
the superior court at a session in any case,
in pursuance of any summons issued in behalf of the
state, the sheriff or deputy sheriff, as the
case may be,
shall forthwith obtain the proper certificate of the travel and attendance of
the
witness in one of the books, shall pay him or her the
amount so certified to be due, from the funds
provided for, shall cause the witness to receipt therefor in the book, all under the proper title of
the case in which the witness shall be summoned, and,
under a division of the certificates, shall
indicate whether the witness was summoned before a
grand jury or a petit jury. The sheriff or
deputy sheriff shall likewise pay all fees due
officers, other than him or herself, for serving
criminal process issued by the court in behalf of the
state at a session, and, after obtaining proper
certificates and receipts therefor,
record in a book, under the proper title of the case and division
thereof to which the fees apply, the items of the fees
and the amount received.
35-6-24.
Certification of fees for summoning state witnesses. -- The sheriff
or deputy
sheriff shall certify in one of the books, under the
proper title of the case and the division thereof
to which his or her fees apply, the amount of his or
her fees for summoning each witness in behalf
of the state, the number of miles he or she has
traveled in making service, and the amount due
him or her therefor,
together with the amount and items of all other fees due him or her for
serving other criminal process in behalf of the state,
which amount he or she may receive for the
use of the state, after receipting therefor
in the book, under the proper title of the case on account
of which the fees are due.
35-6-25. Advance
of estimated costs of witnesses before grand jury. -- At or before
the summoning in of any grand jury in any county, and
from time to time during any session
thereof, the sheriff or deputy sheriff may
estimate the amount of money requisite for the payment
of the witnesses, for the officers' fees for summoning
the witnesses, and for service of other
criminal process in behalf of the state at any
session, and until a grand jury shall again be
summoned in, and, on the approval of an estimate by
the attorney general, the state controller
may, at any time not more than three (3) days before
the summoning in of the grand jury, draw
his or her order on the general treasurer in favor of
the sheriff or deputy sheriff for the amount of
the estimated fees, and the general treasurer shall
pay the order and charge fees to the account of
the judicial expenses of the state.
35-6-31. Accounting
for fines and forfeitures by others than clerks and justices. --
Sheriffs, deputy Deputy sheriffs, jailers, and other
persons, except clerks of courts and justices of
district courts, receiving fines, penalties, and
forfeitures accruing or belonging to the state, or
costs due or payable into the state treasury, shall
account with the department of administration
for the fines, penalties, forfeitures, and costs, as
often as may be required by the department.
SECTION
71. Sections 36-6-6 and 36-6-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 36-6 entitled
"Salaries and
Traveling Expenses" are hereby amended to read as follows:
36-6-6. Salaries
in lieu of fees. -- The salary received from the state by any sheriff,
deputy sheriff, clerk of any court, or other officer
by whom fees are received as a part of his or
her official duties shall be in full compensation for
all services rendered by him or her personally
to the state. That salary shall be in lieu of all fees
which he or she or his or her deputies,
assistants, or subordinates are now or were formerly
authorized to receive for those services.
36-6-7. Fees
turned over to general treasurer. -- It shall be the duty of any sheriff
or
deputy sheriff to turn over to the general treasurer
at least once each month all fees received by
him or her in his or her official capacity as sheriff
or deputy sheriff. It shall be the duty of the
clerks of all district courts and the clerks of all
superior courts to turn over to the general treasurer
at least once each month all fees actually collected
by them under the laws of the state in their
official capacities as clerks of the several courts,
excepting however, all naturalization fees
received by any clerk. In the event that any state
official or employee fails for a period of more
than one month to turn over all fees collected by him
or her during the previous month, it shall be
the duty of the general treasurer to notify the
attorney general who, if he or she is of the opinion
that there has been a dereliction of duty, shall
immediately proceed in any proper action of law to
recover the sum due the state.
SECTION
72. Section 37-6-15 of the General Laws in Chapter 37-6 entitled
"Acquisition
of Land" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
37-6-15. Service
of notice of condemnation. -- After the filing of the description,
plat,
and statement, a notice of the taking of the land or
other real property shall be served upon the
owner and persons having an estate or right in or who
are interested in the land or other real
property by any sheriff, deputy sheriff, or
constable for the county in which the land or other real
property is situated. The officer who shall leave a
true and attested copy of the description and
statement with each of the persons personally or at
their last and usual place of abode in this state
with some person living there, and in case any of the
persons are absent from this state and have
no last and usual place of abode therein occupied by
any person, the copy shall be left with the
person or persons, if any, in charge of, or having
possession of, the land or other real property
taken of the absent persons, and another copy thereof
shall be mailed to the address of the absent
persons, if the same is known to the officer serving
the notice.
SECTION
73. Section 40.1-5-20 of the General Laws in Chapter 40.1-5 entitled
"Mental
Health Law" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
40.1-5-20. Exemption
from court fees or charges. -- Any client represented by the
mental health advocate or his or her assistants under
the provisions of this chapter shall not be
required to pay any fees to the district, superior,
family, or supreme courts or the clerks thereof,
or any fees or charges for the services or travel of sheriffs
or deputy sheriffs for serving any writ,
citation, subpoena, or other process or for making
copies of the writs.
SECTION
74. Section 42-28-19 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-28 entitled "State
Police" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
42-28-19. Police
powers of members -- Fees -- Duties -- Suppression of riots. --
Members of the division shall have and may exercise in
any part of the state, with regard to the
enforcement of the criminal laws, all powers of sheriffs,
deputy sheriffs, town sergeants, chiefs of
police, police officers, and constables. Any person
authorized to issue criminal process may direct
that process to any member of the division. All fees received
by members of the division in
connection with the performance of their duties shall
be paid to the general treasurer for the use
of the state. It shall be the duty of its members to
prevent and detect crime, to apprehend and
assist in the prosecution of offenders, and to assist
in the investigation and prosecution of any
criminal matters within the state. The governor may
command their services in the suppression of
riots, but they shall not exercise their powers within
the limits of any city to suppress rioting
except by direction of the governor and upon the
request of the mayor or chief of police of any
city.
SECTION
75. Section 42-28.1-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-28.1 entitled
"Municipal Police -
Incentive Pay" is hereby amended to read as follows:
42-28.1-1.
Incentive pay plan. -- There is hereby established an incentive pay
program
in accordance with the provisions hereof, offering
financial compensation to members of the
state, city, town police departments, sheriffs and
deputy sheriffs, members of the
marshals' unit,
the
SECTION
76. Section 44-6-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 44-6 entitled
"Assessment
and Collection of State
Taxes" is hereby amended to read as follows:
44-6-8. Attachment
and sale of city or town treasurer's estate. -- The sheriff or
deputy
sheriff shall immediately attach and take possession
of all the real and personal estate of the city
or town treasurer, and sell it at public auction in
the same manner as in the case of a delinquent
collector.
SECTION
77. Section 44-20-37 of the General Laws in Chapter 44-20 entitled
"Cigarette
Tax" is hereby amended
to read as follows:
44-20-37. Seizure
and destruction of unstamped cigarettes. -- Any cigarettes found at
any place in this state without stamps affixed as
required by this chapter are declared to be
contraband goods and may be seized by the tax
administrator, his or her agents, or employees, or
by any sheriff, deputy sheriff, or police
officer when directed by the tax administrator to do so,
without a warrant. Any cigarettes seized under the
provisions of this chapter shall be destroyed.
The seizure and/or destruction of any cigarettes under
the provisions of this section does not
relieve any person from a fine or other penalty for
violation of this chapter.
SECTION
78. Any references in any general law, public law, rule or regulation to
“sheriff,” “sheriff’s,” or
“sheriffs” shall be deemed to be a reference to a member of the division
of sheriffs within the
department of public safety.
SECTION
79. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01971/SUB A
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