2026 -- H 8045

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LC005523

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026

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A N   A C T

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

     Introduced By: Representatives Kislak, Cruz, Ajello, Tanzi, and Handy

     Date Introduced: February 27, 2026

     Referred To: House Judiciary

     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, in accordance with the

judicial selection and nomination process set forth in chapter 16.1 of title 8, 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) The enforcement and implementation of chapter 23.1 of title 15;

     (2) The 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 the magistrate’s powers and duties shall be prescribed in the order appointing

them 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 them;

     (2) To do all acts and take all measures necessary or proper for the efficient performance

of their duties;

     (3) To require the production before them 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 the 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 the 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

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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 and contested divorce trial calendars.

     [See § 12-1-15 of the General Laws.]

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

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

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     This act would require that the chief judge of the family court in appointing magistrates do

so in accordance with the judicial selection and nomination process set forth in chapter 16.1 of title

8.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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