Rhode Island § 38-1-1 § 38-1-1. Delivery of records on leaving public office.

Rhode Island Statutes

§ 38-1-1 — § 38-1-1. Delivery of records on leaving public office.

Rhode Island § 38-1-1

Title 38Public Records

Ch. 38-1Custody and Protection

This text of Rhode Island § 38-1-1 (§ 38-1-1. Delivery of records on leaving public office.) 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 § 38-1-1 (2026).

Text

§ 38-1-1. Delivery of records on leaving public office.
Every person who shall hold a public office shall, upon leaving the office, deliver
            to his or her successor in office, or, if there is no successor, to the public records
            administration program of the office of secretary of state, all records, books, writings,
            letters, and documents, kept or received by him or her in the transaction of his or
            her official business, and to the director of the department of administration all
            money in his or her hands which he or she shall have received as trust funds from
            any person or otherwise in the course of his or her official business; and every person
   

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§ 38-1-1. Delivery of records on leaving public office.

Every person who shall hold a public office shall, upon leaving the office, deliver to his or her successor in office, or, if there is no successor, to the public records administration program of the office of secretary of state, all records, books, writings, letters, and documents, kept or received by him or her in the transaction of his or her official business, and to the director of the department of administration all money in his or her hands which he or she shall have received as trust funds from any person or otherwise in the course of his or her official business; and every person who shall, without just cause, refuse or neglect for the space of ten (10) days after request made in writing by any citizen of the state, to deliver as herein required those records, books, writings, letters, or documents, or to pay over those moneys, to the person authorized to receive the requested items, shall be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) and be imprisoned not exceeding five (5) years.

Legislative History

G.L. 1896, ch. 31, § 1; G.L. 1909, ch. 41, § 1; G.L. 1923, ch. 42, § 1; G.L. 1938, ch. 494, § 1; G.L. 1956, § 38-1-1; P.L. 1981, ch. 353, § 2; P.L. 1997, ch. 326, § 167; P.L. 2000, ch. 233, § 1.