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S 2955Criminal Procedure

Criminal Offenses - Sexual Assault

This bill mandates electronic reporting of sexual assault cases and police narratives to state courts, including data on language barriers.

Signed into law69 Yea0 Nay6 Not voting
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Mar 4, 2026Committee Senate Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This legislation updates the reporting requirements for law enforcement regarding sexual assault and child molestation incidents. It mandates that officers complete a specific "domestic violence/sexual assault reporting form" upon determining probable cause for an arrest or referring a case to the attorney general. The bill requires law enforcement to electronically submit these forms, along with the corresponding police report narratives, to the domestic violence training and monitoring unit within the state courts on a monthly basis. It also adds a requirement to record information regarding any language barriers involved in the incident.

For younger readers

This law changes how police officers report serious crimes like sexual assault to the court system. When police believe they have enough proof to arrest someone for these crimes, they must fill out a specific form on a computer. This form asks for details like the time of the incident and if the people involved speak a different language. The police must send these forms and the written stories about what happened to a special team at the courthouse every month. This helps the courts keep better track of these serious problems.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Law Enforcement OfficersVictims of Sexual AssaultAdministrative Office of State CourtsPolice Department AdministratorsAttorney General's Office
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Mandates the collection of data regarding language barriers, which helps identify systemic inequities and the need for translation services for victims in marginalized communities.
  • Centralizes data collection and police narratives within the court system, promoting greater transparency and oversight regarding how sexual assault cases are handled by law enforcement.
  • Ensures that cases referred to the attorney general are tracked even if an immediate arrest isn't made, providing a more accurate picture of sexual violence prevalence than arrest records alone.
  • Requires the sharing of full police report narratives with a state monitoring unit before a conviction occurs, which could raise privacy concerns for both victims and the accused.
  • Relies on "probable cause" determinations rather than convictions for data entry, potentially creating permanent government records based on police suspicion rather than judicial findings.
  • While it mandates expungement upon acquittal, the bill does not explicitly detail how the shared "police report narratives" are destroyed or removed from the database, posing a potential data retention risk.
For Conservatives
  • Modernizes the reporting system by requiring electronic submission, which increases efficiency and reduces the waste associated with paper processing.
  • Strengthens the ability of the state to track and analyze sexual assault and child molestation trends, ensuring resources are deployed effectively to combat these serious crimes.
  • Ensures that law enforcement agencies are held to a standard timeline for reporting, promoting accountability and order within the justice system.
  • Increases the administrative burden on local police departments by mandating the electronic submission of full narratives in addition to standard forms.
  • Expands the size and scope of the state court's administrative bureaucracy by centralizing more detailed data collection at the state level.
  • The requirement to track "language barriers" could be viewed as unnecessary identity politics data collection that is irrelevant to the criminal nature of the offense.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 24 additions · 12 deletions

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 11-37-13.3 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-37 entitled "Sexual Assault" is hereby amended to read as follows: 11-37-13.3. Sexual assault reports.

(a) A law enforcement officer who responds to or investigates a sexual assault or child molestation sexual assault incident, shall, upon determination of probable cause for arrest or referral to the attorney general’s office, complete a sexual assault report (DV/SA-1) domestic violence/sexual assault reporting form.

(b) For the purpose of establishing accurate data on the extent and severity of arrests for sexual assault incidents and child molestation sexual assault in the state and on the degree of compliance with the requirements of this section the domestic violence training and monitoring unit of the court system within the administrative office of state courts shall prescribe a form and process for making submitting sexual assault reports and/or child molestation sexual assault information to the unit. The form shall include, but is not limited to, the following information:

(1) Name of the parties;

(2) Relationship of the parties;

(3) Sex of the parties;

(4) Date of birth of the parties;

(5) Time and date of the alleged incident;

(6) Whether children were allegedly involved or whether the alleged act of sexual assault or child molestation sexual assault was committed in the presence of children;

(7) Type and extent of the alleged abuse;

(8) Number and types of alleged weapons involved;

(9) Existence of any prior court order; and

(10) Existence of any language barriers; and (10)(11) Any other data that may be necessary for a complete analysis of all circumstances leading to the arrest of an incident subject to reporting under this section.

(c) Each police law enforcement department shall forward copies of the reports to the unit at the end of each month electronically submit the domestic violence/sexual assault reporting forms and the corresponding police report narratives to the unit at the end of each month. For those cases that were still under investigation or for which an arrest warrant had been issued, but not yet executed in a given month, the responsible law enforcement department shall electronically submit the domestic violence/sexual assault reporting forms and the corresponding police report narratives as soon as practicable, but no later than the end of the calendar year in which the incident occurred.

(d) Upon adjudication of acquittal, dismissal or other exoneration the domestic violence/sexual assault report reporting form will be expunged by the domestic violence training and monitoring unit.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.