2017 -- S 0606

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LC001821

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE -- COURTS

     Introduced By: Senators Lombardi, Archambault, Conley, and Nesselbush

     Date Introduced: March 15, 2017

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Sections 8-10-3.1 and 8-10-3.2 of the General Laws in Chapter 8-10

entitled "Family Court" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     8-10-3.1. Magistrates -- Appointment, duties, and powers.

     (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

magistrates shall be prescribed in the order appointing them.

     (b) In addition, magistrates may assist the court in:

     (1) the enforcement and implementation of chapter 23.1 of title 15,

     (2) the determination of matters that come before the court pursuant to section 8-10-4,

chapter 1 of title 14, chapters 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 16 of title 15, chapter 19 of title 16, chapter 11 of

title 40, and chapter 5 of title 40.1.

     Magistrates shall be empowered to hear and determine decide all motions, pretrial

conferences, arraignments, probable cause hearings, trials and dispositions of juvenile offenders

alleged to be wayward or delinquent, probable cause hearings, and review of all such matters,

including but not limited to, and all motions, pretrial conferences, arraignments probable cause

hearings, trials and dispositions regarding the temporary placement, custody, disposition and

adoption of children, orders of child and spousal support, paternity, final divorce decrees

uncontested divorces, and other such administrative and ministerial tasks as defined by

administrative orders and assigned by the chief judge; , and the taking of to take testimony and

make findings of fact in conducting all contested hearings relative thereto. All orders of

magistrates made pursuant to this chapter are subject to the review provided for in subsection (d).

     (c) The magistrates shall serve a term of ten (10) years and until a successor is appointed

and qualified and his or her powers and duties shall be prescribed in the order appointing him or

her or in the rules of procedure of the family court. Any magistrate in service as of January 1,

2008 who serves at the pleasure of the chief judge of the family court may be appointed for a

term of ten (10) years with the advice and consent of the senate and until a successor is appointed

and qualified. Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the assignment of a magistrate to

more than one such term, subject to the advice and consent of the senate. The magistrates may be

authorized:

     (1) To regulate all proceedings before him or her;

     (2) To do all acts and take all measures necessary or proper for the efficient performance

of his or her duties;

     (3) To require the production before him or her of books, papers, vouchers, documents,

and writings;

     (4) To rule upon the admissibility of evidence;

     (5) To issue subpoenas for the appearance of witnesses, to put witnesses on oath, to

examine them, and to call parties to the proceeding and examine them upon oath;

     (6) To adjudicate a person in contempt and to order him or her imprisoned for not more

than seventy-two (72) hours, pending review by a justice of the court, for failure to appear in

response to a summons or for refusal to answer questions or produce evidence or for behavior

disrupting a proceeding;

     (7) To adjudicate a party in contempt and to order him or her imprisoned for not more

than seventy-two (72) hours, pending review by a justice of the court, for failure to comply with a

pending order to provide support or to perform any other act; and

     (8) To issue a capias and/or body attachment upon the failure of a party or witness to

appear after having been properly served and, should the family court not be in session, the

person apprehended may be detained at the adult correctional institution, if an adult, or at the

Rhode Island training school for youth, if a child, until the next session of the family court.

     (d) A party aggrieved by an order entered by a magistrate shall be entitled to a review of

the order by a the chief justice or an associate justice designated by the chief justice of the family

court. Unless otherwise provided in the rules of procedure of the family court, such review shall

be on the record and appellate in nature. The family court shall by rules of procedure establish

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procedures for review of orders entered by a magistrate, and for enforcement of contempt

adjudications of a magistrate.

     (e) Final orders of the family court entered in a proceeding to review an order of a

magistrate may be appealed to the supreme court.

     (f) The magistrates shall be empowered to hear de novo all applications for income

withholding pursuant to chapter 16 of title 15 and appeals of administrative agency orders of the

department of human services to withhold income under chapter 16 of title 15.

     (g) The magistrates shall be empowered to hear all matters relating to the revocation or

nonrenewal of a license of an obligor due to non-compliance with a court order of support, in

accordance with chapter 11.1 of title 15.

     (h) The magistrates may be authorized by the chief judge to hear those matters on the

domestic abuse prevention calendar, and the nominal calendar, the juvenile or domestic relations

calendars.

     [See section 12-1-15 of the General Laws.]

     8-10-3.2. General magistrate of the family court.

     (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 qualified.

Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the assignment of the general magistrate to more

than one such term, subject to the advice and consent of the senate.

     (b) The general magistrate shall be an attorney at law and a member in good standing of

the Rhode Island bar.

     (c) The primary function of the general magistrate shall be the enforcement of child

support decrees, orders, and law relative to child support. The general magistrate shall have all

the authority and powers vested in magistrates by virtue of §§ 8-10-3, 8-10-3.1, 9-15-19, 9-15-21,

9-14-26, 9-18-8, 9-18-9, and chapter 15 of title 15 including contested divorce actions and §36-2-

3, and any other authority conferred upon magistrates by any general or public law or by any rule

of procedure or on the general magistrate by administrative order of the family court, executive

order of the supreme court or the practice of any court within the state.

     (d) All orders entered by the general magistrate shall be subject to review by the chief

judge or an associate justice of the family court designated by the chief judge, in accordance with

the rules of procedure of the family court.

     (d)(e) The chief justice of the supreme court with the agreement of the chief judge of the

family court may specially assign the general magistrate to any court of the unified judicial

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system; provided, however, that the general magistrate may be assigned to the superior court

subject to the prior approval of the presiding justice of the superior court. When the general

magistrate is so assigned he or she shall be vested, authorized, and empowered with all the

powers belonging to the magistrates of the court to which he or she is specially assigned.

     (e)(f) The general magistrate shall:

     (1) Receive all credits and retirement allowances as afforded justices under chapter 3 of

this title and any other applicable law;

     (2) Be governed by the commission on judicial tenure and discipline, chapter 16 of this

title, in the same manner as justices and workers' compensation judges;

     (3) Be entitled to a special license plate under § 31-3-47;

     (4) Receive a salary equivalent to that of a district court judge;

     (5) Be subject to all the provisions of the canons of judicial ethics; and

     (6) Be subject to all criminal laws relative to judges by virtue of §§ 11-7-1 and 11-7-2.

     (f)(g) The general magistrate of the family court who shall at the time of passage of this

section hold the position of general magistrate, shall upon retirement, at his or her own request

and at the direction of the chief justice of the supreme court, subject to the retiree's physical and

mental competence, be assigned to perform such services as general magistrate of the family

court, as the chief judge of the family court shall prescribe. When so assigned and performing

such service, the general magistrate shall have all the powers and authority of general magistrate

of the family court, but otherwise shall have no powers nor be authorized to perform any judicial

duties. For any such service or assignments performed after retirement, the general magistrate

shall receive no compensation whatsoever, either monetary or in kind. Such a retired general

magistrate shall not be counted in the number of judicial officers provided by law for the family

court.

     (g)(h) The provisions of this section shall be afforded liberal construction.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE -- COURTS

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     This act would authorize magistrates to preside over additional matters that are heard

before the family court.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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