§ 8-16.1-5. Nomination and appointment of supreme court justices.
(a) The governor shall immediately notify the commission of any vacancy or prospective
vacancy of a justice of the Rhode Island supreme court. The commission shall advertise
for each vacancy and solicit prospective candidates and shall consider names submitted
from any source. Within ninety (90) days of any vacancy the commission shall publicly
submit the names of not less than three (3) and not more than five (5) highly qualified
persons for each vacancy to the governor. The governor shall fill any vacancy of any
justice of the Rhode Island supreme court by nominating one of the three (3) to five
(5) highly qualified persons forwarded to him or her by the commission for the court.
(b) The governor shall fill any such vacancy within twenty-one (21) days of the public
submission by the commission.
(c) Each nomination shall be forwarded forthwith to the senate and to the house of representatives,
and by and with the advice and consent of the senate, and by and with the separate
advice and consent of the house of representatives, each nominee shall be appointed
by the governor to serve subject to the general laws. The senate and the house of
representatives shall, after seven (7) calendar days of receipt of the nomination,
separately consider the nomination, but if either house fails within sixty (60) days
after the submission to confirm the nominee, the governor shall appoint some other
person to fill the vacancy and shall submit his or her appointment to the senate and
to the house of representatives for confirmation in like manner until the senate and
the house of representatives shall each separately confirm the nomination. If the
nominee is rejected by either house, the commission shall submit a new list of three
(3) to five (5) candidates to the governor for the purpose of nomination in accordance
with this chapter. Any new list may include but need not be limited to the names of
any candidates who were previously submitted to the governor by the commission but
who were not forwarded to the senate and to the house of representatives for their
advice and consent.
(d) During the time for consideration of the nominees by the senate and by the house of
representatives, the judiciary committee of each house shall separately conduct an
investigation and public hearing on the question of the qualifications of the nominee
or nominees. At the public hearings, the testimony of every witness shall be taken
under oath and stenographic records shall be taken and maintained. Further, the judiciary
committees shall during the course of their investigations and hearings have the power
upon majority vote of the committee members present to issue witness subpoenas, subpoenas
duces tecum, and orders for the production of books, accounts, papers, records, and
documents which shall be signed and issued by the chairperson of the committee, or
the person serving in his or her capacity. All such subpoenas and orders shall be
served as subpoenas in civil cases in the superior court are served, and witnesses
so subpoenaed shall be entitled to the same fees for attendance and travel as provided
for witnesses in civil cases in the superior court. If the person subpoenaed to attend
before the committee fails to obey the command of the subpoena without reasonable
cause, refuse to be sworn, or to be examined, or to answer a legal and pertinent question,
or if any person shall refuse to produce books, accounts, papers, records, and documents
material to the issue, set forth in an order duly served on him or her, the committee
by majority vote of the committee members present may apply to any justice of the
superior court, for any county, upon proof by affidavit of the fact, for a rule or
order returnable in not less than two (2) nor more than five (5) days, directing the
person to show cause before the justice who made the order or any other justice of
the superior court, why he or she should not be adjudged in contempt. Upon the return
of the order, the justice before whom the matter is brought on for hearing shall examine
under oath the person, and the person shall be given an opportunity to be heard, and
if the justice shall determine that the person has refused without reasonable cause
or legal excuse to be examined or to answer a legal and pertinent question, or to
produce books, accounts, papers, records, and documents material to the issue which
he or she was ordered to bring or produce, he or she may forthwith commit the offender
to the adult correctional institution, there to remain until the person submits to
do the act which he or she was so required to do, or is discharged according to law.
(e) The judiciary committees shall, for the purpose of investigating the qualifications
of the nominee or nominees, be furnished with a report compiled by the state police
in conjunction with the attorney general's office indicating the determinations and
findings of the state police and attorney general's office investigations concerning
the background of the nominee or nominees, and the report shall include, but not be
limited to, the following:
(1) Whether the nominee has ever been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor
or felony in this or any other state or foreign country;
(2) Whether the nominee has ever filed a personal bankruptcy petition or an assignment
for the benefit of creditors in this or any other state or foreign country; and whether
the nominee has ever been a partner in, held ten percent (10%) or more of stock in,
or held office in any sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation that has been
involved in bankruptcy or receivership actions as a debtor or because of insolvency
at the time the nominee was a partner in, held ten percent (10%) or more stock in,
or held office in any such sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation;
(3) Whether the nominee has ever had a civil judgment rendered against him or her arising
out of an allegation of fraud, misrepresentation, libel, slander, professional negligence,
or any intentional tort in this state or any other state or foreign country;
(4) The state police in conjunction with the attorney general's department shall provide
in their report the names and addresses of each and every source of their information.
(f) The reports set forth in this section shall be delivered to the chairpersons and members
of the judiciary committees in addition to the nominee or nominees only prior to the
commencement of the public hearings. Provided, however, that if the nominee or nominees
withdraw or decline the appointment prior to the public hearings then the report or
reports shall be returned to the chairpersons of the judiciary committees and destroyed.
(g) The committees shall also require a financial statement to be submitted by each nominee,
prior to the public hearing, to the chairperson of the committee, to investigate each
nominee to determine his or her compliance with the provisions of chapter 14 of title 36.
(h) Any associate justice of the supreme court who is appointed to serve as the chief
justice of that court on an interim basis shall retain his or her status as an associate
justice until the appointment to chief justice is made permanent.
(i) In case a vacancy shall occur when the general assembly is not in session, the governor
shall appoint some person from a list of three (3) to five (5) persons submitted to
the governor by the commission to fill the vacancy until the general assembly shall
next convene, when the governor shall make an appointment as provided in this section.