Rhode Island General Laws 32-3-1. Local regulations – Prosecution of violations
Town councils and city councils may pass such ordinances, bylaws, and regulations as they may think proper in relation to the care, management, and use of the public parks, squares, or grounds within the limits of their respective towns or cities, and may prescribe punishment for the violation thereof by a fine not exceeding twenty dollars ($20.00) or by imprisonment not exceeding ten (10) days for each offense. Every deputy sheriff, town sergeant, town constable, or police officer, or any officer authorized to serve criminal process, may arrest, without a warrant, any person who does any criminal act or willfully violates any of those ordinances, bylaws, or regulations in any of those public parks, squares, or grounds, and may detain that person until a complaint can be made against him or her, and he or she can be taken upon a warrant issued upon that complaint; provided, that the arrest and detention without a warrant shall not continue longer than the space of six (6) hours when the arrest is made between the hours of 4 o’clock in the morning (4:00 a.m.) and 8 o’clock in the evening (8:00 p.m.), and when made at any other hour, the person arrested shall not be detained after 10 o’clock in the morning (10:00 a.m.) of the following day.
History of Section.
G.L. 1896, ch. 40, § 24; G.L. 1909, ch. 50, § 25; P.L. 1913, ch. 950, § 1; G.L. 1923, ch. 51, § 25; G.L. 1938, ch. 333, § 25; G.L. 1956, § 32-3-1; P.L. 2012, ch. 324, § 62; P.L. 2015, ch. 260, § 33; P.L. 2015, ch. 275, § 33.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 32-3-1
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
- 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