Rhode Island General Laws 12-20-7. Witness fees
(a) The fees of witnesses shall be:
(1) For every day’s attendance before the supreme or superior court, or before any other tribunal or magistrate, including attendance in giving depositions, except that no officer or other employee of the state or of any city or town shall be entitled to receive a fee for attendance if he or she attends during his or her regular hours of employment for which he or she is entitled to receive his or her ordinary salary or if he or she appears outside his or her regular hours of employment and is entitled to receive additional compensation from his or her employer for attendance: $ 10.00
(2) For every mile’s travel: $ 0.10
(3) For every day’s commitment in jail upon default to enter into recognizance with surety: $ 2.00
(4) For any witness who shall come from without the jurisdiction of the state to testify in behalf of the state, in any criminal proceedings, any sum, in addition to this travel and attendance, that the court before which the proceedings are had shall deem proper.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 12-20-7
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- magistrate: may be construed to mean a justice, or a clerk acting as a justice, of a district court. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
- person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
- Testify: Answer questions in court.
- town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
(b) In addition to the fees provided in subsection (a) of this section, witnesses summoned and testifying as experts in behalf of the state, or any person acting as an interpreter, before the supreme, superior, or district court, may be allowed and paid any sum that the court may deem just and reasonable.
History of Section.
G.L. 1896, ch. 295, § 10; C.P.A. 1905, § 1199; G.L. 1909, ch. 364, § 9; G.L. 1923, ch. 417, § 9; G.L. 1938, ch. 633, § 10; P.L. 1939, ch. 715, § 7; P.L. 1956, ch. 3624, § 1; G.L. 1956, § 12-20-7; P.L. 1974, ch. 153, § 2; P.L. 1984, ch. 182, § 1.