S 3168Criminal Procedure

Criminal Procedure - Search Warrants

This bill allows police to obtain search warrants electronically for severe driving offenses that cause death or serious injury.

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Introduced Mar 27, 2026Committee Senate Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This bill updates the process for obtaining search warrants in Rhode Island. It allows law enforcement officers to request and receive search warrants electronically for specific severe driving offenses, including driving under the influence or driving to endanger that results in death or serious bodily injury. The bill outlines the procedure for these electronic warrants, requiring a real-time spoken oath to a judge, who then electronically signs and returns the documents. It also allows local police officers serving on a statewide task force to request search warrants.

For younger readers

This bill changes how police officers get permission from a judge to search for evidence. Usually, police have to hand over paper forms to a judge in person. This new rule lets police use computers and phones to get this permission electronically, but only for serious car crashes where someone was badly hurt or died because a driver was being unsafe or using alcohol or drugs. The police still have to promise the judge out loud over the phone or computer that they are telling the truth before the judge signs the digital paper.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups

Law enforcement officersJudges and judicial officersIndividuals suspected of severe driving offensesVictims of severe traffic accidentsStatewide task force members

Impacted communities

All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely. The bill implicates the Fourth Amendment (protection against unreasonable searches and seizures) by allowing electronic warrants. However, it maintains constitutional safeguards by requiring a sworn oath or affirmation via real-time spoken communication and requiring a judicial officer's review and signature. This aligns with modern constitutional standards for electronic warrants already used in many jurisdictions.

Estimated cost

None

Estimated revenue

None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints

For Progressives

Limits the use of rapid electronic warrants strictly to severe driving offenses involving death or serious injury, preventing the expansion of electronic warrants for low-level drug offenses or minor crimes.
Maintains strict judicial oversight and due process by requiring real-time spoken communication for the officer's oath, preventing the use of fully automated or rubber-stamped electronic approvals.
Modernizes the justice system to more efficiently investigate catastrophic vehicular crimes, ultimately enhancing public safety and community welfare.
Expands police powers by authorizing local officers on statewide task forces to directly request warrants, which could increase the footprint of policing and surveillance.
Streamlining the warrant process electronically could lead to faster, less deliberative judicial reviews, potentially weakening Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches.
Lacks new transparency or public reporting requirements regarding how often electronic warrants are requested or granted, making it difficult to monitor for systemic biases in enforcement.

For Conservatives

Strengthens the rule of law by giving police faster, more efficient tools to investigate severe crimes like drunk driving that result in death or serious injury.
Reduces government bureaucracy by modernizing the warrant process, replacing slow paper-based procedures with streamlined electronic communications.
Empowers local police officers serving on statewide task forces to directly request warrants, improving law enforcement coordination and effectiveness.
Limits the use of electronic warrants solely to specific driving offenses, missing an opportunity to streamline law enforcement efforts for other serious crimes.
Restricts the issuance of warrants outside of normal court hours to emergencies or administrative orders, potentially hindering swift police action during nights and weekends.
Expanding the ways police can obtain search warrants electronically could raise concerns about government overreach and potential infringements on individual privacy rights.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 30 additions · 1 deletion

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 12-5-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 12-5 entitled "Search Warrants" is hereby amended to read as follows: 12-5-3. Issuance and contents.

(a) A warrant shall issue only upon complaint in writing, which may be transmitted by electronic means to an authorized judicial officer in accordance with the provisions of subsection

(b) of this section, under oath of:

(1) A chief of police, deputy chief of police or other members of the police force of any city or town, or deputy sheriff of any county, member of the division of state police, full time conservation officer of the department of environmental management, or other person specifically authorized by law to bring complaints for violation of the law which it is his or her responsibility to enforce;

(2) Additionally, in the case of property stolen, embezzled, or obtained by fraud or false pretenses, any person who has a right to the possession of the property.

(3) Additionally, a sworn law enforcement member of any city or town where that member is serving on a statewide task force.

(b) A warrant may be issued by electronic means solely for the search and seizure of evidence relating to the commission of the following offenses:

(1) Driving so as to endanger, resulting in death, pursuant to § 31-27-1;

(2) Driving so as to endanger, resulting in serious bodily injury, pursuant to § 31-27-1.1;

(3) Driving under the influence of liquor or drugs, resulting in death, pursuant to § 31-27- 2.2;

(4) Driving under the influence of liquor or drugs, resulting in serious bodily injury, pursuant to § 31-27-2.6;

(c) Warrants issued pursuant to this section shall not be issued outside of normal court hours on weekdays, weekends, holidays, or other times when the court is not in session when by reason of emergency or administrative order.

(d) When a duly authorized person requests the issuance of a warrant by electronic means, the judicial officer may issue a warrant based upon information communicated electronically as follows:

(1) Upon being notified that a warrant is sought by electronic means, the judicial officer shall direct the applicant to transmit a complaint, affidavit and search warrant electronically to the judicial officer. The affidavit shall be sworn to or affirmed by administration of the oath or affirmation telephonically or by other electronic method that includes spoken real-time communication with the judicial officer. The administration of the oath or affirmation need not be part of the affidavit or recorded; however, the judicial officer shall note on the affidavit that the oath or affirmation was administered.

(2) In the event the judicial officer proceeds to issue a warrant under this subsection, the judicial officer shall electronically sign the complaint, search warrant and affidavit. The judicial officer shall record the date and time of issuance on the search warrant and transmit the electronically signed documents to the applicant by reliable electronic means. ~~(b)~~(e) Within fourteen (14) days of the issuance of any warrant under this chapter, whether or not executed, the warrant, accompanied by any supporting affidavits and an inventory of any property seized, shall be returned to the district court having jurisdiction over the place of the search or, in the event of a warrant that is not executed, the court from which it was issued. The returns shall be maintained by the district court according to the date of issuance. If not otherwise indicated, the return shall note whether the warrant was executed.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.