§ 12-10-2. Powers of justices of the peace.
(a)(1) The chief judge of the district court shall, from time to time, appoint, with power
to revoke the appointments, from those qualified justices of the peace who shall be
members of the bar of the state of Rhode Island within the cities and towns and divisions
of the district court, as many justices of the peace as he or she may deem necessary,
who shall be authorized to set and take bail in all complaints bailable before a division
of the district court, except those offenses punishable by life imprisonment and,
in default of bail, to commit to the adult correctional institutions all respondents
arrested on those complaints. The chief judge shall authorize the justices of the
peace, so appointed by him or her, to issue warrants and complaints returnable to
the division of the district court for any offense for which, by law, a judge of the
district court may issue a warrant and complaint, and all warrants so issued, and
all warrants and complaints upon which bail is taken or commitments are made, shall
be immediately returned to the divisions; provided, that the justices of the peace
shall not in any case, or for any purpose, have the power to issue search warrants.
The justices of the peace may also set and take bail, as provided in this section,
and commit and issue warrants (except search warrants), in any division where the
defendant is being held by the state police, the metropolitan park police, conservation
officers of the department of environmental management, a sheriff or deputy sheriff,
the capitol police, the campus security forces of the state colleges and universities,
or city or town police forces.
(2) Whenever probable cause exists that a defendant is a violator of bail and/or probation
in the district court or superior court, upon being presented with a violation report
by the attorney general or the attorney general's transmission of a violation report
to the arresting agency or place of presentment, and upon making a finding that the
defendant is subject to violation of bail and/or probation and that probable cause
exists on the new charge being brought, the justice of the peace shall issue his or
her writ of mittimus confining the defendant without bail and issue a writ of habeas
corpus returnable to the next sitting of the district court and make a finding of
probable violation in writing. If the attorney general transmits the violation report
to the arresting agency or place of presentment, the law enforcement agency shall
ensure that the defendant is presented with the violation report and the justice of
the peace shall ensure the violation report is attached to his or her writs and other
documentation of a district court violation or a superior court violation. The justice
of the peace shall proceed to arraign the defendant on the new charge pursuant to
subdivision (1). The justice of the peace shall return his or her writs and other
documentation of a district court violation to the clerk of the district court; regarding
any superior court violation, the attorney for the state shall notify the clerk of
the superior court for the county where the case originated, for which a finding of
probable violation was made, of the finding of probable violation and the attorney
for the state shall, on the same date, request a judge or magistrate of the superior
court to issue a writ of habeas corpus for the purpose of a violation presentation
before the superior court returnable to the next sitting of the superior court in
the county.
(b) In misdemeanor cases, a justice of the peace may accept pleas of not guilty, in which
case the justice of the peace may schedule a pre-trial conference date before a judge
of the district court.
(c) In non-capital felony cases, the justices of the peace may also schedule felony screening
dates.
(d) The fee for the justices of the peace shall be fifty dollars ($50.00), paid by each
individual who appears before him or her; provided, that when a special session is
requested between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., the fee shall be arranged
between the defendant and the justice of the peace, but shall not exceed two hundred
dollars ($200). Justices of the peace shall have immunity for any actions taken pursuant
to the provisions of this section.