Chapter 401
2012 -- S 2770 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 06/21/12
A N A C T
RELATING TO
COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE -- COURTS -- SUPERIOR COURT
Introduced
By: Senators Jabour, Miller, Metts,
Date Introduced: March 08, 2012
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 8-2-39.2 of the General Laws in Chapter
8-2 entitled "
Court" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
8-2-39.2.
Drug court magistrate -- Appointment, duties and powers.
-- (a) For the
purposes of this chapter: (1) “Non-violent” means and includes
all charges that are not crimes of
violence, the following being a list of all charges considered
to be crimes of violence for the
purposes of this section: murder, manslaughter, first degree
arson, kidnapping with intent to
extort, robbery, first degree sexual assault, second degree
sexual assault, first and second degree
child molestation, assault, assault with intent to murder,
assault with intent to rob, assault with
intent to commit first degree sexual assault, entering a
dwelling house with intent to commit
murder, robbery, or sexual assault.
(2) “Drug addicted
person” means a person who exhibits a maladaptive pattern of
behavior resulting from drug use, including one or more of the
following: impaired control over
drug use; compulsive use; and/or continued use despite
harm, and craving.
(b) There is
hereby created within the superior court the position of
Magistrate who shall be appointed by the presiding
justice of the superior court with the advice
and consent of the senate. The persons appointed to serve
as Drug Court Magistrates shall be
members of the bar of Rhode Island. The powers and duties of
the Drug Court Magistrate shall be
prescribed in the order appointing him or her in addition to
those described herein.
The Drug Court
Magistrate's term shall be ten (10) years and until a successor is
appointed and qualified. Nothing in this article shall prohibit
a Drug Court Magistrate from being
reappointed for additional ten (10) year terms by the presiding
justice of the superior court with
the advice and consent of the senate. He or she shall
receive a salary equivalent to that received
by the special magistrate assigned to the superior
court. The
over the
the court with a therapeutic regimen in order to
rehabilitate drug addicted defendants.
(b)(c)
The
court justice all matters relating to those adult offenders
who come before the jurisdiction of the
superior court on any offense relating to the offender's
participation in the
addition, the Drug Court Magistrate shall have the power to
impose a period of incarceration
upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, and also have the power to confine any person
who has
been found to be in violation of any conditions previously
imposed by the superior court.
(d) The
defendant is admitted into the program. Individuals meeting the
following criteria, shall be
screened by staff working at the office of the attorney
general upon the department's own referral,
upon a request by counsel entered on behalf of a
defendant; upon request by a judge of the
superior or district court, or, in the case of a person waivable by the family court, by a judge of
that court, or the department of corrections for
admittance into the
(1) The individual is
charged with or convicted of an alcohol or drug related offense or
with an appropriate non-violent offense.
(2) The individual
has no pending charges or prior convictions for felony crimes of
violence.
(3) The individual
has no pending charges or prior convictions for delivery of a
controlled substance.
(4) The defendant is
a drug addicted person.
(e) All individuals
accepted into
defined by the
responsibilities of the
defendant, and the treatment plan goals and strategies. If a
defendant fails to abide by the Drug
Court conditions and orders, he or she may be
terminated from the program by the
judge and sentenced as he or she deems appropriate.
(c)(f) The
court justice all matters that may come before the superior
court pursuant to chapter 37.1 of title
11 "Sexual Offender
Registration and Community Notification."
(d)(g)
The
fix the venue of any person who is before the superior
court as a participant in the Adult Drug
Court or who is alleged to be a sexual predator, and
who has filed an objection to community
notification.
(h)
In addition, at the discretion of the presiding justice of the superior court,
the drug
court magistrate shall have the duties, responsibilities
and powers authorized in subsection 8-2-
39(b), (c) and (d).
(e)(i) The
and discipline, chapter 16 of title 8 in the same manner
as justices and judges; shall be subject to
all provisions of the canons of judicial ethics or code
of judicial conduct; and shall be subject to
all criminal laws relative to judges by virtue of
sections 11-7-1 and 11-7-2.
(f)(j) A
party aggrieved by an order entered by the Drug Court Magistrate shall be
entitled to a review of the order by a justice of the Superior
Court superior court. Unless
otherwise provided in the rules of procedure of the court, such
review shall be on the record and
appellate in nature. The Superior Court superior
court shall, by rules of procedure, establish
procedures for reviews of orders entered by a Drug Court
Magistrate, and for enforcement of
contempt adjudications of a Drug Court Magistrate.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC02169/SUB A
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