Title 9, Title 9 and Civil Procedure — Procedure Generally

Writs and summonses issued by a district court shall be made returnable to the court at the place and on the day and hour provided by law, to be named in the writs and summonses, and shall, except as otherwise specifically provided, be directed to the division of sheriffs, or to …

(a)(1) A person at least twenty-one (21) years of age who complies with the statute and the requirements set forth in any regulations promulgated by the department of business regulation may file an application with the department requesting that the applicant be certified as a c…

Upon filing of the application and training required by § 9-5-10.1, an applicant shall submit an application fee in the amount of four hundred dollars ($400) and deposit a bond with sufficient sureties in the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for the faithful performance of t…

(a) No certified constable shall display any badge, emblem, or certification in the course of his or her duties except that which is issued or authorized by the department of business regulation, nor shall any certified constable misrepresent himself or herself as a law enforceme…

A certified constable shall be required to renew his or her certification every two (2) years. Any certified constable failing to renew his or her certification shall no longer be approved to serve as a certified constable. At the time of renewal, the certified constable shall su…

(a) Upon the receipt of a written complaint, request of the board, request of a judge of any court, or upon its own initiative, the department shall ascertain the facts and, if warranted, hold a hearing for the reprimand, suspension, or revocation of a certification. The director…

(a) There shall be created a certified constables’ board that shall review each applicant and recommend him or her for training, conduct the oral examination of each applicant, and that shall serve as a resource to the department in the consideration of the practical aspects of c…

Writs and other process from the district court, duly signed and sealed, may be made returnable in any division, including writs of replevin; provided, that writs of replevin shall be made returnable to the district court in any division in which the goods or chattels to be reple…

The plaintiff in any action may, as often as may be necessary, at any time before final judgment in the action, sue out a writ of mesne process to be made returnable to the court in which the action is then pending, the writ of mesne process commanding the attachment of the real …

Writs of replevin shall be substantially in the following form:WRIT OF REPLEVIN.THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. SC. To the sheriffs of our several counties, their deputies, or to a certified constable, (SEAL) Greeting: We command you that you replevy, if to be found within your precin…

Whenever process shall issue against more than one defendant, the forms provided by law may be altered so as to combine the summons, the writ of arrest, and the writ of attachment, in order that they may be served on one or more of the defendants by one form of service and on the…

Every court shall adapt the form of process necessary to be issued thereby, whenever no form is prescribed, so as to conform to law and, as far as the nature of the case will admit, to the forms prescribed in this chapter and in applicable procedural rules.

Any original writ or writ of mesne process from the superior court for any county may be sealed and signed by the clerk of the court for any county and be made returnable in any other county where the court may sit.

Whenever the name of any defendant or respondent is not known to the plaintiff, the summons and other process may issue against him or her by a fictitious name, or by such description as the plaintiff or complainant may select; and if duly served, it shall not be abated for that …

Whenever the clerk of any court shall be a party to an action, suit, or other proceeding, civil or criminal, all processes issuing from the court thereon shall be signed by a justice thereof.

Every person who shall willfully swear falsely to any statement in an affidavit made by him or her, by means of which affidavit a writ of arrest or attachment shall have issued and been served by arrest or attachment, shall be deemed guilty of perjury.

Every original writ issuing from the superior court shall be returnable thereto on the day named in the writ, and shall be served not less than ten (10) nor more than sixty (60) days before the return day thereof, except in those cases in which special provision by law shall be m…

No civil process whatsoever shall be served on Sunday, but every such service shall be utterly void.

All persons entitled to vote shall be protected from arrest in civil cases, on the days of election for city or town officers, and for state officers, representatives in congress, and electors of president and vice-president of the United States; and on the day preceding and the …

Service of any process may be made by any disinterested person upon any nonresident guardian, executor, or administrator, appointed or approved by any court of probate in this state, either by reading the process to him or her or by leaving an attested copy thereof with him or he…

A disinterested person, serving process as provided in § 9-5-27, shall make affidavit of the service thereof, and of the manner in which, the time when, and the place where the service was made; or the service thereof may be made by the admission of service by the guardian, execu…

Every individual not a resident of this state and every partnership composed of persons not such residents, having a usual place of business in this state, temporarily or permanently, or engaged here, temporarily or permanently, and with or without a usual place of business here,…

A facsimile of the signature of the clerk of the superior court for each of the counties of Providence and Bristol, Newport, Washington, and Kent, or the district court for each division, imprinted by him or her, with the seal of the court affixed or a facsimile of the court seal…

If resident attorney, as provided in § 9-5-29, shall die, resign, or remove from the state, the individual or partnership shall forthwith file with the secretary of state a further similar written power appointing some other competent resident in this state as his or her or its a…

A fee of five dollars ($5.00) shall be paid to the secretary of state, for the use of the state, upon the filing in his or her office of any paper required to be filed by §§ 9-5-29 — 9-5-32.

Every individual or partnership required by §§ 9-5-29 — 9-5-31 to file a power of attorney and failing so to do shall be notified by the secretary of state, upon information and request by any resident of this state, of the requirements of §§ 9-5-29 — 9-5-32; and every person who…

(a) Every foreign corporation, every individual not a resident of this state or his or her executor or administrator, and every partnership or association, composed of any person or persons not such residents, that shall have the necessary minimum contacts with the state of Rhode…

Every foreign corporation that manufactures products that are sold in the state shall file in the office of the secretary of state a written power appointing some competent person resident in this state as its attorney with authority to accept service of process against the corpo…

No employer within this state is permitted to refuse or obstruct the service of any court process upon an employee at the place of employment and such service shall not be grounds for dismissal of the employee. The employer may designate an area where the service may be effected.

All writs issuing from the supreme or superior court shall be in such form as the court shall prescribe, except if express provision is made by statute.

All writs, executions, and process shall run throughout the state and shall be directed for service to the division of sheriffs, or to a certified constable, but if any deputy sheriff is a party to the action or suit, the process shall be directed to the town sergeant or a certif…

All writs whatsoever commanding the arrest of a defendant, or executions running against the body of a defendant, shall be directed for service to the division of sheriffs or to a certified constable authorized pursuant to § 9-5-10.1, or if the writ is to be served in the town of…

The town sergeant of the town of New Shoreham is hereby authorized and empowered to serve any writ and civil or criminal process in the town of New Shoreham and the waters adjacent thereto within the jurisdiction of the state, the ad damnum of which does not exceed one thousand d…

Any warrant or mittimus issued from any superior or district court committing any person to the Eleanor Slater hospital or Rhode Island state psychiatric hospital shall be directed to and executed by duly authorized agents of the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental…

Whenever any action shall be brought upon any bond which has a condition of defeasance to make void the bond upon the payment of a less sum at a day or place certain, if the obligor, his or her heirs, executors, or administrators have, before the action brought, paid to the oblig…

The requirement or demand of a receipt for the amount of lawful money as may be offered or tendered shall not prevent the offer or tender from being regarded or held to be a legal tender.

In any action at law, pending in a district court, the plaintiff or the defendant may plead any equitable defense, upon which an unconditional judgment can be rendered for the party pleading the defense.

No summons, writ, complaint, return, process, judgment, or other proceeding in civil causes in any court shall be abated, arrested, quashed, or reversed for any defect or want of form, but the court shall proceed and give judgment according as the right of the cause and matter in…

In every action or proceeding, civil or criminal, for libel or slander, the defendant may, with his or her plea of not guilty or his answer, file a written notice that he or she will prove the truth of the publication charged as libelous, or of the words charged as slanderous, an…

(a) The supreme court, the superior court, the family court, the district court, or the traffic tribunal, may, at any time, in its discretion, dismiss actions at law and other proceedings for lack of prosecution that have been pending for five (5) years or more, after notice and …

Actions at law, and such other proceedings as the court may order, which have been pending more than ten (10) years on July 10, 1982, may be dismissed for lack of prosecution by the court on its own motion, as directed by the chief justice of the supreme court as to that court, b…

(a) Thereafter, during the first week in February in each year, or as soon as thereafter is practicable, all actions at law, and other proceedings designated by the respective courts, deemed by the court to be inactive and then pending in the supreme court, the superior court, th…

Any case dismissed under §§ 9-8-3 — 9-8-5, may be reinstated by the court with or without terms upon motion within one year from dismissal, if the court deems it proper to prevent injustice.

(a) A person is liable to serve as a juror if the person is: (1) A citizen of the United States; and (2) At least eighteen (18) years of age; and (3) A resident of Rhode Island who either: (i) Resides in the county where the person is registered to vote; (ii) Is licensed to opera…

(a) A person is qualified to serve as a juror if the person is: (1) A citizen of the United States; (2) A resident of Rhode Island who either: (i) Resides in the county where the person is registered to vote; or (ii) Is licensed to operate a motor vehicle within this state; or (i…

(a) In any proceeding, civil or criminal, the courts shall provide and pay the reasonable costs of services of a qualified interpreter for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing and a reader for persons who are visually impaired when necessary to enable persons with these disabi…