Chapter 10 MISCELLANEOUS OFFENSES
§ 10-1. Arrest and detention of violators.
§ 10-2. Prosecuting violations.
§ 10-3. Disorderly conduct.
§ 10-4. Loitering; police order to disperse.
§ 10-5. Removal of doors from discarded refrigerators.
§ 10-6. Spitting.
§ 10-7. Noncompliance with subpoenas or written orders of council.
§ 10-8. Solicitors obstructing passage of pedestrians.
§ 10-9. Containers of alcoholic beverages.
§ 10-10. Indecent exposure.
§ 10-11. Trespass.
§ 10-12. Vandalism; injuring or annoying animal of another.
§ 10-13. Misappropriation of vehicle, boat or animal of another.
§ 10-14. Damaging or removing statues, monuments, gravestones, boundary markers or road signs.
§ 10-15. Malicious injury.
§ 10-16. Hunting, taking of game and discharge of firearms.
§ 10-17. Harassment of hunters, trappers and fishers.
§ 10-18. Fluorescent orange requirements.
§ 10-19. Bridge jumping.
CROSS REFERENCES
Animals, ch. 3
Marine activities, areas and structures, ch. 9 Police, ch. 13
Probate court, ch. 14.
Streets, sidewalks and other public places, ch. 15. Traffic and motor vehicles, ch. 18.
STATE LAW REFERENCES
Offenses punishable by state law shall not be imposed by ordinance, G.L. 1956, § 45-6-6
Criminal offenses, G.L. 1956, title 11
Abandonment of certain appliances, G.L. 1956, § 11-9-10 False alarms, G.L. 1956, § 11-44-21
Parks and recreation, penalty, G.L. 1956, § 32-3-1.
Every sheriff, deputy sheriff, town sergeant, constable, harbormaster or police officer who shall discover any person in the act of committing any of the acts prohibited in this chapter shall arrest such person and detain him in custody until a complaint can be made against him for the offense for which he shall have been arrested and until he is taken on a warrant issued upon such complaint. Any property owner, tenant, lessee or occupant who shall discover any person committing any of the acts prohibited in this chapter in or upon his property or property over which he has control may arrest and detain the person committing such acts in similar manner as the officers set out in this section. Such detention shall not continue for more than a period of two hours without an arrest being made, and no person so arrested shall be held for a period exceeding 24 hours without a complaint being made to and a warrant obtained from a justice of the judicial district court, a justice of the peace or a warden of the town.
(a) Manner of proceeding. All violations of the provisions of this Revision or any ordinance that may hereafter be enacted by the town council shall be prosecuted by complaint and warrant directed to the appropriate officer of the town. Whenever a complaint is made by any person other than the officer appointed as aforesaid, such complainant shall give surety for costs. In all cases of complaint the fines, forfeitures or penalties shall belong to the town.
(b) Time limit. All complaints under these sections shall be made within 10 days after the commission of the offense and not thereafter.
(c) Costs. In all prosecutions under the ordinances of this town, the costs shall be the same as in criminal proceedings before the district courts of the state. On conviction the payment of such costs shall be a part of the sentence of the respondent who shall be sentenced to imprisonment on default of the payment of such fine and costs until the same are paid or remitted by the town council. In all cases where such complaint is dismissed, the costs shall be taxed against the complainant and his surety and collected in the same manner as is prescribed in state law. Where such complaint is made by an officer appointed by the town council to execute the ordinances of the town or an officer elected by the town for the same purpose, the costs shall be paid by the town.
(d) Imprisonment. In all violations of the ordinances of the town where in the respondent is sentenced to imprisonment, either as a punishment for the offense or for the nonpayment of the fine and costs, such respondent may be imprisoned in the county jail in and for the county at the discretion of the court.
(a) Definitions. The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this section, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
PUBLIC PLACE — Any place to which the general public has access and a right to resort for business, entertainment or other lawful purpose, but does not necessarily mean a place devoted solely to the uses of the public. It shall also include the front or immediate area of any store, shop, restaurant, tavern, wharf, boat landing or other place of business and also public grounds, areas or parks.
RIOT — A public disturbance involving an act of violence by one or more persons part of an assemblage of three or more persons which act shall constitute a clear and present danger of or shall result in damage or injury to the property of any other person, or to the persons part of an assemblage of three or more persons having individually or collectively the ability of immediate execution of such threat or threats where the performance of the threatened act or acts of violence would constitute a clear and present danger of or would result in damage or injury to the property of any other person or to the person of any other individual.
(b) Prohibited. A person shall be guilty of disorderly conduct if, with the purpose of causing public danger, alarm, disorder or nuisance or if his conduct is likely to cause public danger, alarm, disorder or nuisance, he willfully does any of the following acts in a public place:
(1) Commits an act in a violent and tumultuous manner toward another whereby that other person is placed in fear of safety of his life, limb or health.
(2) Commits an act in a violent and tumultuous manner toward another whereby the property of any person is placed in danger of being destroyed or damaged.
(3) Causes, provokes or engages in any fight, brawl or riotous conduct so as to endanger the life, limb, health or property of another.
(4) Interferes with another's pursuit of a lawful occupation by acts of violence.
(5) Resists or obstructs the performance of duties by the police or any other authorized official of the town when known to be such an official.
(6) Incites, attempts to incite or is involved in attempting to incite a riot.
(7) Addresses abusive language or threats to any member of the police department or any other authorized official of the town who is engaged in the lawful performance of his duties or any other person when such words have a direct tendency to cause acts of violence. Words merely causing displeasure, annoyance or resentment are not prohibited.
(8) Damages, befouls or disturbs public property or the property of another so as to create a hazardous, unhealthy or physically offensive condition.
(9) Fails to obey a lawful order to disperse by a police officer when known to be such an official where one or more persons are committing acts of disorderly conduct in the immediate vicinity and the public health and safety is imminently threatened.
(10) Uses abusive or obscene language or makes an obscene gesture intended or likely to cause an act of violence.
(11) Uses violent and forceful behavior at any time in or near a public place, such that there is a clear and present danger that free movement of other persons will be arrested or restrained or other persons will be incapacitated in the lawful exercise of business or amusement.
(12) Disturbs the peace of others by violent, offensive or boisterous conduct or language which said conduct or language was calculated to cause anguish or injury or violent reaction from another.
(13) Roughly crowds or pushes any person in any public place.
(14) Throws any stone, snowball or any other missile upon or at any person, vehicle, building, tree, sign or other public or private property.
(15) Wantonly makes a false alarm with reference to the request of firefighting apparatus or cries fire in any public place for the sole purpose of causing turmoil.
(16) Prowls or wanders upon the private property of another, or peeks in the door or window of any inhabited building or structure located thereon without visible or lawful business with the owner or occupant thereof.
(17) Maliciously interrupts the speaker of any lawful assembly or impairs the lawful rights of others to participate effectively in such assembly or meeting when such conduct is calculated to provoke or tend to cause turmoil or disturbance.
(18) Acts in a manner which tends to cause or provoke a disturbance near any public building wherein matters affecting the public are being considered or deliberated, and the conduct interferes with the public matters.
(19) Frequents any public place with intent to obtain money from other persons by illegal and fraudulent schemes, tricks, artifices or devices.
(20) Displays any deadly weapon in a public place in a manner which is calculated to alarm or frighten other persons present.
(c) Exemptions. This section shall not be construed to suppress the right to lawful assembly, picketing, public speaking or other lawful means of expressing public opinion not in contravention of other laws.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to loiter, loaf, wander, stand or remain idle either alone and/or in consort with others in a public place in such a manner so as to prevent the free and uninterrupted ingress, egress and regress therein, thereon and thereto by:
(1) Obstructing any public street, public highway, public sidewalk, wharves, boat landings or any other public place or building by hindering or impeding or tend to hinder or impede the free and uninterrupted passage of vehicles, traffic or pedestrians.
(2) Committing in or upon any public street, public highway, public sidewalk, wharves, boat landings or any other public place or building any act or thing which is an obstruction or interference to the free and uninterrupted use of property or with any business lawfully conducted by anyone in or upon or facing or fronting on any such public street, public highway, public sidewalk, wharves, boat landings or any other public place or building.
(b) When any person causes or commits any of the conditions enumerated in subsection(a) of this section, a police officer or any law enforcement officer shall order that person to stop causing or committing such conditions and to move on or disperse. Any person who fails or refuses to obey such orders shall be guilty of a violation of this section.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person who, having been the owner of a container originally used for refrigerative purposes, fails to remove the door before discarding or setting aside the same.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly permit or to cause an unused container of the type set forth in subsection (a) of this section to be placed or to remain upon his property in such a manner that it shall become readily accessible to children without removing the door.
State law reference — Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 11-9-10.
No person shall spit upon any part of any car, public building, hall, lobby, church, theater, sidewalk, wharves, boat landings or buildings used for commercial purposes in the town.
It is unlawful for any person to refuse or neglect to comply with the requirements of any subpoena or written order issued and served by the town council serving in any judicial capacity.
It shall be unlawful for any person to solicit for any commercial for-profit business in such a way that pedestrians are obstructed or in any manner restrained from free passage on any public street, public highway, public sidewalk, wharf, boat landing, parking lot or any other public place or building.
(a) It shall be unlawful to possess, carry or by any means convey in public opened containers of any description which contain alcoholic beverages in and on all public wharves, streets, sidewalks, highways, beaches, public conveyances or other public place whatsoever in the town except where legally licensed for sale and/or distribution of such beverages.
(b) In addition to the restrictions set forth in paragraph a pertaining to opened containers of any description which contain alcoholic beverages, it shall be unlawful to possess, carry or by any means convey in closed containers of any description alcoholic beverages on all public beaches in the town.1
It shall be unlawful for any person to expose his or her genitals to the view of others under circumstances in which his or her conduct is likely to cause affront, distress or alarm to such other persons.
1. Editor's Note: Amd. of June 4, 2012, changed the title of § 10-9 from possession of open container of alcoholic beverages in public place to containers of alcoholic beverages.
State law reference — Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 11-45-1(g).
It shall be unlawful for any person to enter upon, remain on or travel across the land of another without the consent, expressed or implied, of the owner thereof, except all persons authorized by law or special license or in the performance of emergency services.
It shall be unlawful for any person to willfully, maliciously or mischievously injure, damage, deface or destroy the property of another, wheresoever located, or to annoy, worry, attack or injure the domestic animal of another while properly restrained and controlled on the property of the owner or keeper.
It shall be unlawful for any person to take, use, set in motion, loosen, set adrift or set free any vehicle, boat or animal of another without the consent of the owner, expressed or implied, except all persons in the performance of emergency services.
It shall be unlawful for any person to trespass upon, deface, mutilate or otherwise injure or damage any public or private statues, monuments, gravestones, boundary markers or road signs or to remove the same.
(a) Disfiguring fences. No person shall mutilate or disfigure any fence, building or railing, or write or draw upon any of them any obscene words or pictures of figures.
(b) Injury to signposts, street signs, lamps and lampposts. No person shall break, knock down or remove or extinguish any sign or lamppost or otherwise injure any lamp or lantern erected for the purpose of lighting any street, highway, bridge, or public place or ground set apart for public purposes in this town, whether erected by the town or any other person.
(c) Defacing posts, trees, buildings or other structures. No person shall daub with paint, cut, break, or otherwise injure or by scratching or writing with paint, blacking, chalk or in any other way or manner deface any post, lamppost, fence, tree, tree box, house or other building situated in or upon any street, highway, bridge or public place or ground set apart for public purposes in the town or any ornament or appurtenance of such post, lamppost, fence, tree, tree box, house or other building.
(d) Defacing or damaging public facilities. No person shall deface or defile or in any way willfully injure or damage any public drinking fountain, watering trough or public urinal in the town or any appurtenances or any pipes leading thereto or therefrom, or waste the water supplied.
The hunting, possession or taking of deer within the boundaries of the town is prohibited except as otherwise authorized by the town council at its first meeting in March. It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge a firearm, hunt, take or kill any wild bird or animal on private property without permission from the owner and any tenant in possession.
It shall be unlawful for any person to obstruct or interfere with the lawful taking of wildlife by another person within the boundaries of the town at the location where the activity is taking place with intent to prevent the lawful taking. A person violates this section when he or she intentionally or knowingly: (1) Drives or disturbs wildlife for the purpose of disrupting the lawful taking of wildlife where another person is engaged in the process of lawfully taking wildlife; (2) Blocks, impedes or otherwise harasses another person who is engaged in the process of lawfully taking wildlife; (3) Uses natural or artificial visual, aural, olfactory, or physical stimuli to affect wildlife behavior in order to hinder or prevent the lawful taking of wildlife (4) Erects barriers with the intent to deny ingress or egress to areas where the lawful taking of wildlife may occur; (5) Interjects himself or herself into the line of fire; (6) Affects the condition or placement of personal or public property intended for use in the lawful taking of wildlife in order to impair its usefulness or prevent its use; or (7) Enters or remains upon private lands without the permission of the owner or the owner's agent, with intention to violate this section.
(a) Fluorescent orange safety clothing is required during the hunting season statewide for all hunters. To meet this requirement, safety clothing must be solid daylight fluorescent orange. Fluorescent camouflage does not meet this requirement. The hunter orange must be worn above the waist and be visible in all directions. Examples that meet the orange requirements are a hat that covers 200 square inches or combination of hat and vest covering 500 square inches. The following orange requirements apply:
(1) Two hundred square inches by small game hunters during the small game season.
(2) Two hundred square inches by fall turkey hunters while traveling.
(3) Two hundred square inches by muzzleloaders during muzzleloading deer season.
(4) Two hundred square inches by archers when traveling to/from stands during muzzleloading deer season.
(5) Five hundred square inches by all hunters and other users (including archers) during shotgun deer seasons.
(6) Those hunters using Pop-up blinds during the firearms deer season must display 200 square inches of fluorescent orange visible on the outside of the blind from all directions. Hunters must also wear orange in accordance with the rules for the specific seasons while in the blind.
(b) Exempt from fluorescent orange requirements are:
(1) Waterfowl hunters hunting from a boat or blind, over water or field, when done in conjunction with decoys.
(2) Archery deer hunters (except during muzzleloader and shotgun deer season).
(3) Hunters crow hunting over decoys.
(4) Spring turkey hunters and
(5) First segment dove hunters.
(6) Not required in areas limited to archery only by regulation.
It shall be unlawful for any person to jump, dive, hang or swim from any of the bridges located within the boundaries of the town. Each incident shall be considered a separate violation.
[Added 6-5-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-01]
(a) Purpose.
(1) The purpose of this section is to prohibit the use of cannabis in public places.
(b) Authorization.
(1) Under Rhode Island General Laws § 21-28.11-16(b), any city or town may adopt ordinances that ban or impose restrictions on the smoking or vaporizing of cannabis products in public places.
(c) Definitions.
(1) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
CANNABIS PRODUCTS
Any product that has been manufactured and contains cannabis or an extract from cannabis, including concentrated forms of cannabis and products composed of cannabis and other ingredients that are intended for use or consumption, including edible products, beverages, topical products, ointments, oils, and tinctures.
PUBLIC PLACE
Any public property or place to which the public or a substantial group of persons has access, including, but is not limited to, any public park, public beach, public waterways, recreational fishing areas, public recreation trails, public facilities, transportation facilities used by the public, public waterways, pavilions and open air venues where the public congregates or recreates, any municipal parking lot or property, municipal buildings, theaters, public pools, playgrounds, skate park, athletic fields and courts, public and private school grounds, any place of amusement, common areas, including any public ways, streets, alleys, highways, bridges and walkways. Athletic fields shall include any playing field, ballfield, basketball court, tennis court or any other property where sports activities occur.
SMOKE or VAPORIZE
Inhaling, exhaling, burning or carrying any lighted or vaporized cannabis in any manner or form.
(d) Enforcement.
(1) No person shall smoke or vaporize cannabis products in any public place.
(2) Nothing in this section shall preclude the Town or any law enforcement officer of any jurisdiction from charging an offender for a violation of any other applicable law or ordinance arising from the offender's prohibited conduct.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the transportation of cannabis or cannabis products.
(4) Violations shall be prosecuted in the Warden's Court.
(e) Penalties.
(1) Any person who violates this section is liable for a civil fine of $100. Each use shall be deemed a separate violation and each shall be subject to a separate civil fine.