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S 3047Civil Procedure

Courts and Civil Procedure - Procedure Generally - District Court Practice

This bill replaces complex appeal costs and attorney fees with a single flat filing fee for District Court appeals.

Signed into law69 Yea0 Nay6 Not voting
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Mar 5, 2026Committee Senate Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This legislation modifies the financial requirements for appealing civil cases and landlord-tenant disputes from the District Court to the Superior Court. Previously, a party wishing to appeal was required to pay costs that included a fifty-dollar fee designated for the opposing party's attorney. This bill removes that requirement. Instead, it establishes a flat seventy-five dollar filing fee, which includes a civil case processing fee and a technology surcharge. This creates a standardized cost for filing these appeals and eliminates the payment to the adverse party's counsel.

For younger readers

When people go to court and lose, they sometimes want to ask a higher court to look at the case again. This is called an appeal. Before this bill, if someone wanted to appeal, they had to pay extra money that went directly to the lawyer for the person who won the first time. This bill changes the rules. Now, instead of paying that extra money to the other lawyer, the person appealing just pays a flat fee of seventy-five dollars to the court to start the process.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
LandlordsTenantsCivil LitigantsAttorneysCourt Clerks
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
$75/appeal

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Reduces the financial barrier for low-income tenants and litigants to appeal a decision by removing the requirement to pay the opposing counsel's fees immediately.
  • Simplifies the legal process for pro se litigants (people representing themselves) who may find the calculation of variable costs and attorney fees confusing.
  • Eliminates a punitive cost structure that prioritized compensating the "winning" attorney over the right of a citizen to seek a review of a judicial decision.
  • The flat seventy-five dollar fee may still represent a significant financial hurdle for the poorest residents, potentially blocking access to justice.
  • Removing the requirement to pay attorney fees upfront could theoretically make it cheaper for wealthy landlords to drag out cases against tenants through appeals.
  • Does not explicitly include a waiver provision for indigent residents within this specific text, relying on general statutes that can be difficult to navigate.
For Conservatives
  • Streamlines the judicial bureaucracy by replacing variable cost calculations with a simple, standardized filing fee.
  • Ensures a consistent revenue stream for the court system by incorporating technology surcharges and processing fees directly into the filing cost.
  • Maintains a financial threshold (the filing fee) to prevent the court system from being flooded with completely free, frivolous appeals.
  • Removes the "loser pays" element of the appeal process, which served as a deterrent against meritless appeals by requiring payment to the opposing counsel.
  • Could potentially increase the backlog in Superior Court by making it less financially painful for litigants to challenge District Court rulings.
  • Undermines the property rights of prevailing parties (such as landlords) by removing immediate partial compensation for their legal trouble when a case is appealed.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 9 additions · 12 deletions

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Sections 9-12-10 and 9-12-10.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 9-12 entitled "District Court Practice" are hereby amended to read as follows: 9-12-10. Claim of appeal of superior court Claim of appeal to the superior court in civil cases. Except as otherwise provided, in all civil cases in the district court, any party may cause the case to be removed for trial on all questions of law and fact to the superior court for the county in which division the suit is pending by claiming an appeal from the judgment of the district court, in writing, filed with the clerk of the division within two (2) days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after the judgment is entered; provided, that the party claiming the appeal, at the time of claiming the appeal, shall pay to the clerk all costs, including an attorney’s fee of fifty dollars ($50.00), for the party or parties adversely interested in the judgment, to be paid by the clerk to the attorney for the adverse party. The attorney’s fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) shall be divided equally among the attorneys for the parties adversely interested when more than one adverse party is involved; and provided, further, that costs shall not be taxed, exclusive of the attorney’s fee, at a sum not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00), in addition to a seventy-five dollar ($75.00) filing fee, inclusive of a civil case processing fee and a technology surcharge assessed in accordance with § 8-15-11. 9-12-10.1. Claim of appeal to superior court in landlord tenant actions. In any civil action pursuant to chapter 18 of title 34, in the district court or other appropriate court, any party may cause the case to be removed for trial on all questions of law and fact to the superior court for the county in which division the suit is pending, by claiming an appeal from the judgment of the district or other appropriate court, in writing, filed with the clerk of the division within five (5) days, inclusive of Saturdays, Sundays or legal holidays, after the judgment is entered; provided, that the party claiming the appeal at the time of claiming the appeal, shall pay to the clerk all costs, including an attorney’s fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) for the party or parties adversely interested in the judgment, to be paid by the clerk to the attorney for the adverse party; provided, further, that costs shall not be taxed, exclusive of the attorney’s fee, at a sum less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00), in addition to a seventy-five dollar ($75.00) filing fee, inclusive of a civil case processing fee and a technology surcharge assessed in accordance with § 8-15-11.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2027.