Title 8, Title 8 and Civil Procedure — Courts

(a) The chief judge of the family court shall from time to time appoint, with power to revoke such appointments, from those qualified justices of the peace who shall be members of the bar of the state of Rhode Island as many such justices of the peace as he or she may deem necess…

The appointments and revocations of justices of the peace shall be recorded in the records of the court and certified, by the chief judge making the appointment and revocation, to the secretary of state, and the judge shall also issue to the justice or justices of the peace his o…

(a) There shall be a family court administrator who shall be appointed by the chief judge of the family court in his or her capacity as administrative judge of the court, with the advice and consent of the senate, and who shall hold office for a term of five (5) years. (b) Under …

The director of administration shall provide the family court with proper quarters and facilities necessary for the performance of the duties of the court. He or she shall also provide the clerk of said court with adequate quarters and facilities necessary for the performance of …

During the period when a juvenile shall be placed in the receiving and screening unit or in the youth correctional center, no transfer or parole of the juvenile shall be made except with the consent of the chief judge of the family court, or, in his or her absence, with the conse…

This chapter shall be liberally construed to the end that families whose unity or well-being is threatened shall be assisted and protected, and restored, if possible, as secure units of law-abiding members; that each child coming within the jurisdiction of the family court shall …

The records of the family court shall be public records, except that records of hearings in matters set forth in § 14-1-5, together with stenographic notes and transcripts of those hearings, shall not be available for public inspection unless the court shall otherwise order. Notw…

Within the family court there shall be established an intake department. Its duties shall be to receive applications and complaints relative to juvenile matters presented to the court, to provide for a thorough investigation of the applications and complaints, and to report there…

The justices of the family court, or a majority of them, shall appoint a chief intake supervisor and two (2) assistant intake supervisors who are qualified by education, training, previous experience in professional social welfare, personality, character, and special aptitude for…

(a) The chief judge of the family court shall appoint a statewide juvenile hearing board coordinator who is qualified by education, training, previous experience in professional social welfare, personality, character, and special aptitude for the work, to serve at the pleasure of…

The town of North Kingstown shall have the authority to create a juvenile hearing board subject to the provisions of § 8-10-23.1, notwithstanding the requirements of the town’s regulations, charter, or ordinances.

The town of Jamestown shall have the authority to create a juvenile hearing board subject to the provisions of § 8-10-23.1, and the requirements of the town’s regulations, charter or ordinances.

The town of North Providence shall use the authority to create a juvenile hearing board subject to the provisions of § 8-10-23.1, notwithstanding the requirements of the town’s regulations, charter or ordinances.

The town of Smithfield shall have the authority to create a juvenile hearing board subject to the provisions of § 8-10-23.1, notwithstanding the requirements of the town’s regulations, charter, or ordinances.

The provisions of chapter 7 of this title, relating to the superior court, shall apply to the family court, except as the family court may otherwise by rule provide.

In addition to any other authority or duties provided by this chapter, the clerk of the family court shall have the authority and carry out the duties with respect to the family court that are exercised or performed by the clerks of the superior court for that court pursuant to t…

The clerk of the family court shall make returns to the director of health, on or before the first day of March in each and every year, for the year ending on the thirty-first day of December preceding, of all the applications for divorce, showing the number of applications, the …

(a) There is hereby established a family court, consisting of a chief judge and eleven (11) associate justices, to hear and determine all petitions for divorce from the bond of marriage and from bed and board; all motions for allowance, alimony, support and custody of children, a…

(a) The chief judge of the family court may appoint magistrates, with the advice and consent of the senate, to assist the court in the conduct of its business. A person appointed to serve as a magistrate shall be a member of the bar of Rhode Island. The powers and duties of magis…

(a) There is hereby created within the family court the position of general magistrate of the family court who shall be appointed by the chief judge of the family court with the advice and consent of the senate for a term of ten (10) years and until a successor is appointed and q…

In case of the death, resignation, absence, inability, or refusal to serve of the clerk, the chief judge of the family court may appoint a clerk pro tempore who shall hold his or her office until the clerk shall have returned or the inability shall have been removed or another cl…

The clerk of the family court, with the approval of the chief judge of the court, may appoint one or more deputy clerks who, being sworn, may discharge all the duties of the clerk until removed by the clerk or the court. The clerk shall fix the compensation of his or her deputies…

(a) The clerk of the family court, with the approval of the chief judge thereof, shall appoint as many assistant clerks as may be necessary, who shall hold office until removal by the clerk or by a majority of the justices. (b) The clerk is hereby authorized and empowered to empl…

Each of the assistant clerks of the family court shall aid his or her principal in the discharge of his or her duties, and any act done by him or her, under direction of the clerk, in the line of duty of the clerk shall have the same force and effect as though done by the clerk; …

The justices of the family court, or a majority of them, may appoint a secretary and an assistant secretary who shall hold office during the pleasure of the court and shall perform such duties as may be required by the court.

The justices of the family court, or a majority of them, shall appoint competent shorthand writers or stenotypists for regular service in the court and one or more such writers for occasional service therein in the absence of other appointees, who shall be known as court stenogra…

All books, papers, recording media, and supplies necessary for the use of the court reporters and court recording clerks or similar recording personnel shall be furnished by the state, and the notebooks used and notes and recordings taken by them shall be the property of the stat…

Subject to the provisions of § 8-10-21, court reporters shall report stenographically, or court recording clerks or similar recording personnel shall report electronically, the proceedings in the trial of every action or proceeding, civil or criminal, in the family court. Each co…

(a) Like powers are hereby conferred upon the family court as are conferred upon the superior court by the provisions of § 8-6-1. (b) Provided, however, a justice of the family court shall notify the principal of a school that the court is ordering the placement of a juvenile in …

The justices of the family court or its magistrate(s) are hereby empowered, when ordering a noncomplying parent to the adult correctional institution or the women’s reformatory for contempt, to order immediate work release status for him or her.

To the family court shall also be referred for hearing, adjustment, reconciliation, decision, and sentence all causes properly brought in the court or appealed from other courts in which the defendant is accused, as provided by the statutes, of abandonment of his wife or her husb…

Those provisions of chapter 3 of this title, which relate to superior court justices, shall apply to the chief judge and associate justices of the family court and, for purposes of eligibility for retirement under § 8-3-7 as amended by chapter 2 of the public laws, 1959, service …

Any justice of the family court who shall resign in accordance with the provisions of § 8-3-9 may, at his or her own consent and on request of the chief judge of the court, be assigned to perform service as an associate justice thereof. When so assigned and performing such servic…

Wherever in any general or public law the words “juvenile court,” “judge of juvenile court,” or “chief judge of the juvenile court” shall appear, the terms shall mean and include “family court,” “justice of family court,” or “chief judge of the family court.” Wherever in any gene…

The chief judge of the family court or his or her designee shall fix the venue for trial of any person accused of any criminal offense which is subject to the jurisdiction of the family court.

The general assembly shall annually appropriate such sums as shall be necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter; and the state controller is hereby authorized and directed to draw his or her order on the general treasurer for the payment of such sum, or so much thereof …

The provisions of this chapter are severable, and if any of its provisions shall be held unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, the decision of that court shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions.

In all the causes in § 8-10-4, the family court shall seek to reconcile the parties and to re-establish friendly family relations, and to this end may suggest and hold conferences in chambers with the parties interested, and with their counsel, if they are represented by counsel …

The clerk of the family court shall notify the director of the department of human services of the names and addresses, if known to him or her, of the parties to any proceeding in the court, so that the director, if the parties or any of them are recipients of public assistance, …

Within the family court there shall be a family counselling service, consisting of such personnel as the court shall deem necessary to assist the court in advising and counselling the parties and whose qualifications shall be established by the court. The justices of the family c…

The department of human services shall provide for the family court the services of such physicians, psychiatrists, experts, and consultants approved by the court as shall be necessary to accomplish the purposes for which the court is established.

(a) The facilities of the department of corrections shall be available at all times to the court. The director of the department of corrections shall assign to service in the court a supervisor of probation counsellors, probation counsellors, and other workers to carry out the pu…