| Chapter 439 |
| 2024 -- H 7271 Enacted 06/29/2024 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE -- COURTS -- FAMILY COURT |
Introduced By: Representatives Craven, Dawson, and Shanley |
| Date Introduced: January 24, 2024 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Section 8-10-3.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 8-10 entitled "Family Court" |
| is hereby amended to read as follows: |
| 8-10-3.1. Magistrates — Appointment, duties, and powers. |
| (a) The chief judge of the family court may appoint magistrates, with the advice and |
| consent of the senate, to assist the court in the conduct of its business. A person appointed to serve |
| as a magistrate shall be a member of the bar of Rhode Island. The powers and duties of magistrates |
| shall be prescribed in the order appointing them. |
| (b) In addition, magistrates may assist the court in: |
| (1) theThe enforcement and implementation of chapter 23.1 of title 15,; |
| (2) theThe determination of matters that come before the court pursuant to § 8-10-4, |
| chapter 1 of title 14, chapters 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 16 of title 15, chapter 19 of title 16, chapter 11 of |
| title 40, and chapter 5 of title 40.1. |
| Magistrates shall be empowered to hear and determine all motions, pretrial conferences, |
| arraignments of juvenile offenders, probable cause hearings, and review of all such matters, |
| including but not limited to, the temporary placement, custody, disposition, and adoption of |
| children, orders of support, final divorce decrees, and the taking of testimony in conducting all |
| hearings relative thereto subject to the review provided for in subsection (d). |
| (c) The magistrates shall serve a term of ten (10) years and until a successor is appointed |
| and qualified and his or herthe magistrate’s powers and duties shall be prescribed in the order |
| appointing him or herthem or in the rules of procedure of the family court. Any magistrate in |
| service as of January 1, 2008, who serves at the pleasure of the chief judge of the family court may |
| be appointed for a term of ten (10) years with the advice and consent of the senate and until a |
| successor is appointed and qualified. Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the assignment |
| of a magistrate to more than one such term, subject to the advice and consent of the senate. The |
| magistrates may be authorized: |
| (1) To regulate all proceedings before him or herthem; |
| (2) To do all acts and take all measures necessary or proper for the efficient performance |
| of his or hertheir duties; |
| (3) To require the production before him or herthem of books, papers, vouchers, |
| documents, and writings; |
| (4) To rule upon the admissibility of evidence; |
| (5) To issue subpoenas for the appearance of witnesses, to put witnesses on oath, to |
| examine them, and to call parties to the proceeding and examine them upon oath; |
| (6) To adjudicate a person in contempt and to order him or herthe person imprisoned for |
| not more than seventy-two (72) hours, pending review by a justice of the court, for failure to appear |
| in response to a summons or for refusal to answer questions or produce evidence or for behavior |
| disrupting a proceeding; |
| (7) To adjudicate a party in contempt and to order him or herthe party imprisoned for not |
| more than seventy-two (72) hours, pending review by a justice of the court, for failure to comply |
| with a pending order to provide support or to perform any other act; and |
| (8) To issue a capias and/or body attachment upon the failure of a party or witness to appear |
| after having been properly served and, should the family court not be in session, the person |
| apprehended may be detained at the adult correctional institution, if an adult, or at the Rhode Island |
| training school for youth, if a child, until the next session of the family court. |
| (d) A party aggrieved by an order entered by a magistrate shall be entitled to a review of |
| the order by a justice of the family court. Unless otherwise provided in the rules of procedure of |
| the family court, such review shall be on the record and appellate in nature. The family court shall |
| by rules of procedure establish procedures for review of orders entered by a magistrate, and for |
| enforcement of contempt adjudications of a magistrate. |
| (e) Final orders of the family court entered in a proceeding to review an order of a |
| magistrate may be appealed to the supreme court. |
| (f) The magistrates shall be empowered to hear de novo all applications for income |
| withholding pursuant to chapter 16 of title 15 and appeals of administrative agency orders of the |
| department of human services to withhold income under chapter 16 of title 15. |
| (g) The magistrates shall be empowered to hear all matters relating to the revocation or |
| nonrenewal of a license of an obligor due to non-compliance with a court order of support, in |
| accordance with chapter 11.1 of title 15. |
| (h) The magistrates may be authorized by the chief judge to hear those matters on the |
| domestic abuse prevention calendar and the nominal calendar and contested divorce trial calendars. |
| [See § 12-1-15 of the General Laws.] |
| SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage and shall apply retroactively to all |
| actions for divorce pending at the time of or filed after the effective date of this act. |
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| LC004266 |
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