Bills Introduced to the Rhode Island House (Criminal and Civil Offense Focus), January 25 – February 3
Significant Rewrites with Statewide Impact
| H5125 | Defines crimes of assault, battery and manslaughter against an unborn child. (Same as H5029?) |
| H5129 | Changes registration and notification requirements for sexual offenders. |
| H5132 | From the official description: “This act would require the collection of DNA samples for any person arrested for a crime of violence [and] expand the list of crimes for which a DNA sample is required”. |
| H5257 | Sets rules for using restraints on pregnant prisoners. |
| H5263 | From the official description: “This act would amend the law banning racial profiling in traffic stops by state and municipal law enforcement agencies by imposing additional requirements upon law enforcement agencies to collect data and complete regular reports of findings and statistics regarding traffic stops”. |
Targeted Changes with Statewide Impact
| H5122 | Requires drivers ticketed for a third traffic violation within a 12-month period to appear in court. (Comment: I’m pretty sure this doesn’t apply to parking tickets, but only to offenses where a vehicle is being operated.). |
| H5124 | Adds libraries to the list of locations that trigger double-penalties for producing or selling drugs within 300 yards of them. |
| H5130 | Police can conduct an alcohol or a drug test during a traffic-stop, but not both (right now, they are allowed to do both). |
| H5131 | Reduces from 6 to 4 the number of state district court divisions (The municipalities of Bristol County [currently the 1st division], of northern Providence County [the current 5th division] and Providence and East Providence [the current 6th division] get pulled into a single division). |
| H5181 | From the official description: “This act would permit parents of a deceased child who are divorced, separated, living apart or never married to file a motion requesting the judge to apportion fairly any amount awarded in a wrongful death action”. |
| H5182 | Reduces the amount of unpaid child support classified as a felony from $10,000 to $5,000. Companion to S0023. |
| H5212 | Adds “little cigars, flavored cigars known as “blunts” unflavored “blunts”, flavored and unflavored blunt wraps, cigarette rolling papers of any size or composition, cigarillos, and tiparillos” to the list of tobacco products that cannot be purchased by individuals younger than 18 years of age. |
| H5213 | Second offense for possession of marijuana would be a misdemeanor. |
| H5214 | Specifies that penalties for violating the terms of parole or a deferred sentence cannot lead to a term of imprisonment that exceeds the original sentence. |
| H5216 | From the official description: “This act would allow that if child support has been terminated, suspended or expired the court can re-establish child support if the child has severe mental impairment or a severe impairment if the situation fits the criteria and factors in this statute”. |
| H5222 | Applicants for DCYF jobs would be required to undergo a BCI check. |
| H5259 | Makes clear that any party to a civil action who is over 65 years age can request an acceleration of the action. |
| H5261 | “Petty misdemeanors” involving domestic violence can trigger enhanced penalties. Companion to S0070 |
| H5262 | Being deployed out-of-state as part of military service cannot by itself be the cause of modifying a child-custody order. Companion to S0024 |
| H5264 | Adds “cyberstalking and cyberharassment” to the list of crimes that can be defined as domestic violence. |
With regard to H5212, can someone check with Grace Diaz if she’d still outlaw cellophane?