Rhode Island § 12-19-19 § 12-19-19. Sentencing on plea of guilty or nolo contendere — Deferment of sentence.

Rhode Island Statutes

§ 12-19-19 — § 12-19-19. Sentencing on plea of guilty or nolo contendere — Deferment of sentence.

Rhode Island § 12-19-19

Title 12Criminal Procedure

Ch. 12-19Sentence and Execution

This text of Rhode Island § 12-19-19 (§ 12-19-19. Sentencing on plea of guilty or nolo contendere — Deferment of sentence.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Rhode Island primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-19-19 (2026).

Text

§ 12-19-19. Sentencing on plea of guilty or nolo contendere — Deferment of sentence.
(a) Whenever any person is arraigned before the superior court and pleads guilty or nolo
            contendere, he or she may be at any time sentenced by the court; provided, that if
            at any time the court formally defers sentencing, then the person and the court shall
            enter into a written deferral agreement to be filed with the clerk of the court. When
            a court formally defers sentence, the court may only impose sentence up to five (5)
            years from and after the date of the written deferral agreement, unless during the
            required period, the person shall be declared to have 

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

§ 12-19-19. Sentencing on plea of guilty or nolo contendere — Deferment of sentence.

(a) Whenever any person is arraigned before the superior court and pleads guilty or nolo contendere, he or she may be at any time sentenced by the court; provided, that if at any time the court formally defers sentencing, then the person and the court shall enter into a written deferral agreement to be filed with the clerk of the court. When a court formally defers sentence, the court may only impose sentence up to five (5) years from and after the date of the written deferral agreement, unless during the required period, the person shall be declared to have violated the terms and conditions of the deferment pursuant to subsection (b) in which event the court may impose sentence.

(b) The court may require that the person agreeing to said deferment of sentence shall not violate any condition of the written deferral agreement. A violation of any condition set forth by the written deferral agreement shall violate the terms and conditions of the deferment of sentence and the court may impose a sanction or impose sentence. The determination of whether a violation has occurred shall be made by the court in accordance with procedures relating to violation of probation in court rules and §§ 12-19-2 and 12-19-14.

(c) If a person, after the completion of the deferment period is determined by the court after a hearing to have complied with all of the terms and conditions of the deferral agreement including, but not limited to, the payment in full of any court-ordered fines, fees, costs, assessments, and restitution to victims of crime, then the person shall become immediately eligible for consideration for expungement pursuant to the provisions of §§ 12-1.3-2 and 12-1.3-3.

Legislative History

C.P.A. 1905, § 21; G.L. 1909, ch. 273, § 18; G.L. 1923, ch. 323, § 18; P.L. 1927, ch. 1063, § 1; G.L. 1938, ch. 496, § 18; P.L. 1945, ch. 1560, § 1; G.L. 1956, § 12-19-19; P.L. 2010, ch. 128, § 1; P.L. 2010, ch. 256, § 1; P.L. 2016, ch. 202, § 2; P.L. 2016, ch. 204, § 2; P.L. 2017, ch. 345, § 1; P.L. 2017, ch. 351, § 1.