| Statewide case search | Rhode Island Judiciary Public Portal |
|---|---|
| Criminal history check | Rhode Island Attorney General — Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) Background Check |
| Appellate opinions | Rhode Island Supreme Court Opinions |
| Federal cases | PACER (1 district) |
| Plain copy fee | $0.20 per page (R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-29-12 sets $0.20 per page for copies made by recording and certifying officers; the Judicial Records Center charges $0.20 per page on its self-service copier) |
| Certified copy fee | $3.00 per document for a certified copy of a court record; $25.00 for a certified Family Court final judgment or divorce decree |
| Who keeps trial records | Clerk of the Supreme Court; Clerk of the Superior Court for that county's division |
Rhode Island runs one unified court system for the whole state, not 50 separate county systems, which makes records research simpler than in most states but not simple. The Rhode Island Judiciary is a single administrative agency of six courts — Supreme, Superior, Family, District, Workers' Compensation, and the Traffic Tribunal — and Rhode Island's five counties (Providence, Kent, Washington, Newport, and Bristol) have no county government at all. There is no county clerk in the way Texas or Ohio has one. Instead, each county has a Superior Court clerk's office at that county's judicial complex, and Family and District Court sit in four multi-county divisions, not five.
The Rhode Island Judiciary Public Portal (publicportal.courts.ri.gov) is the statewide docket search for the Supreme, Superior, Family, District, and Workers' Compensation Courts and the Traffic Tribunal. It shows the register of actions — parties, filings, hearing dates, and case status — for cases that are not sealed or confidential. It does not include probate records, because probate is not a state court function here: every Rhode Island city and town runs its own probate court, usually clerked by the town or city clerk.
The most common mistake searchers make is assuming a "county" office exists to search or that one statewide site covers everything. It doesn't: a will or estate is filed with the city or town where the decedent lived, not with a county probate court, and a criminal history check goes through the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI), not the court portal.
How Rhode Island courts are organized
Which court heard a case decides who keeps the file. Use this table to pick the right clerk before you search, and see the guides to criminal, civil, family, and probate records for what each court's file contains.
| Court | Handles | Who holds the records |
|---|---|---|
| Rhode Island Supreme Court |
| Clerk of the Supreme Court One Chief Justice and four Associate Justices; the Chief Justice is the administrative head of the entire Judiciary. |
| Superior Court |
| Clerk of the Superior Court for that county's division The trial court of general jurisdiction, organized into four county-based divisions — Providence/Bristol, Kent, Washington, and Newport — each with its own clerk's office at that county's judicial complex. |
| Family Court |
| Clerk of the Family Court for that division Sits in four divisions at the same judicial complexes as Superior Court; juvenile and abuse/neglect records are confidential. |
| District Court |
| Clerk of the District Court for that division Organized into four numbered divisions (2nd Newport, 3rd Kent, 4th Washington, 6th Providence, which also covers Bristol County towns) rather than one per county. |
| Workers' Compensation Court |
| Clerk of the Workers' Compensation Court Single statewide court, seated in Providence. |
| Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal |
| Clerk/Administrator of the Traffic Tribunal Separate from District Court; handles the great majority of speeding and moving-violation tickets. |
| Probate Courts (municipal) |
| Town or city clerk acting as clerk of the probate court (a separately elected probate clerk in Providence) Rhode Island has no county probate court. All 39 cities and towns run their own probate court; there is no statewide probate search. |
Search Rhode Island court records online
Statewide case search
Rhode Island Judiciary Public Portal
- Cost
- Free to search the public docket; attorneys and agencies need a signed data-subscription agreement for expanded access
- Coverage
- Docket/register-of-actions information for the Supreme, Superior, Family, District, and Workers' Compensation Courts and the Traffic Tribunal statewide, excluding sealed or confidential cases
- Records
- Civil, Criminal, Family, Traffic
The site blocked our automated verification request with a bot-detection challenge (DataDome), which is common for court portals; the Rhode Island Judiciary's own case-information page links to this exact address, so we kept it but flagged it for a human to confirm by browser.
Criminal history (convictions)
Rhode Island Attorney General — Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) Background Check
- Cost
- $5.00 for a Rhode Island state check by mail or in person (waived at 62+ or with a qualifying disability); $45.00 for a fingerprint-based national check
- Coverage
- Rhode Island fingerprint-supported arrests that resulted in a conviction; does not include dismissals, acquittals, out-of-state, or federal records
- Records
- Criminal
Walk-ins are accepted at the AG's Customer Service Center, 4 Howard Avenue, Cranston; mail requests need a signed, notarized release form, photo ID copy, and a check or money order payable to "BCI."
Appellate courts
Rhode Island Supreme Court Opinions
- Cost
- Free
- Coverage
- Published opinions of the Rhode Island Supreme Court
- Records
- Appeals
Docket-level appellate case tracking (not just published opinions) is available through the Judiciary Public Portal.
Federal court records in Rhode Island
Federal cases (bankruptcy, federal crimes, lawsuits under federal law) are not in state portals. They live in PACER, organized by district. Rhode Island has 1 federal judicial district.
| District | Main courthouse | Court website |
|---|---|---|
| District of Rhode Island | Providence | www.rid.uscourts.gov |
Read our PACER guide for registration, the per-page fee, and the quarterly fee waiver.
Rhode Island county court records
Trial-court records are kept by the clerk in the county where the case was filed. These are the largest counties in Rhode Island; each guide covers the superior court clerk and other court offices, their addresses, and what is searchable online.
- Providence County court records County seat: Providence Online search Free
- Kent County court records County seat: Warwick Online search Free
- Washington County court records County seat: South Kingstown (Wakefield) Online search Free
- Newport County court records County seat: Newport Online search Free
- Bristol County court records County seat: Bristol Online search Free
Request records in person or by mail
In person. For a Superior Court, Family Court, or District Court case, go to the clerk's office at the judicial complex for the division that handled it: Licht Judicial Complex (Providence, also covers Bristol County Superior Court matters), Noel Judicial Complex (Warwick, Kent County), McGrath Judicial Complex (Wakefield, Washington County), or Murray Judicial Complex (Newport, Newport County). Public terminals are available to search the docket at no charge; copies are paid at the counter.
By mail. Write to the specific clerk's office (not a central state office) with the case number if you have it, the party names and approximate filing year if you don't, exactly which documents you need, whether you need certified copies, and payment or a request for a fee quote. Older, closed files may have been transferred to the Judicial Records Center in Pawtucket, which holds semi-active, inactive, and archival Judiciary records and pre-1900 records for all five historic counties.
Online. The Judiciary Public Portal shows docket entries and case status for non-confidential cases statewide at no charge; it does not provide certified copies or, in most cases, document images. Probate records are not on the portal at all — contact the city or town clerk where the case was filed.
Criminal history. For a name-based Rhode Island conviction check, use the Attorney General's BCI process rather than the court portal; it is the only source for a formal state background-check document.
Fees
| Item | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Plain copy | $0.20 per page (R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-29-12 sets $0.20 per page for copies made by recording and certifying officers; the Judicial Records Center charges $0.20 per page on its self-service copier) |
| Certified copy | $3.00 per document for a certified copy of a court record; $25.00 for a certified Family Court final judgment or divorce decree |
Per-page and certification amounts are those posted in the Judicial Records Center policies and set by R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-29-12. The Records Center also charges a $15.00 per hour search fee after the first free hour for staff research, and it does not accept personal checks. An individual clerk's office may quote a different total for copies of active case files it still holds on-site, so confirm the amount before sending payment.
Need a copy an agency will accept? See how to get certified copies of court records.
Sealed, expunged, and restricted records
Court records are open by default under the Rhode Island Judiciary's Rules of Practice Governing Public Access to Electronic Case Information, but several categories are removed from public view:
- Expungement of criminal records. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-1 et seq., a first offender may move to expunge a misdemeanor conviction (after 5 years) or felony conviction (after 10 years) if they have not been convicted or arrested again and show good moral character. Once granted, the record is sealed and removed from public court indexes and BCI files.
- Acquittals and exonerations. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1-12, a person acquitted or otherwise exonerated may petition to have arrest records destroyed by police and sealed at the courts and BCI under § 12-1-12.1.
- Juvenile, abuse/neglect, and adoption cases. Family Court juvenile delinquency, dependency/abuse/ neglect, and adoption records are confidential and are not part of the public docket.
- Domestic violence and certain protective-order details. Some information in these filings is restricted even though the case itself is public.
- Non-public filings. Rule 4 of the Judiciary's public-access rules defines categories of filings (such as certain financial or medical information) that stay out of the public portal even in an otherwise public case.
Sealing restricts access without destroying the record; only expungement removes it from public and, for most purposes, government view. Motions to expunge or seal are filed in the court that handled the underlying case, not through a records request.
To remove your own record from public view, read how to expunge or seal a criminal record.
Frequently asked questions
Is there one court records search for all of Rhode Island?
Yes, for docket information. The Rhode Island Judiciary Public Portal covers the Supreme, Superior, Family, District, and Workers' Compensation Courts and the Traffic Tribunal statewide. It does not cover probate, which is handled separately by each city or town.
Where is the county clerk in Rhode Island?
There isn't one. Rhode Island's five counties have no county government, so there is no county clerk. Trial-court records are kept by the Superior, Family, and District Court clerk's offices at each county's judicial complex, and probate records are kept by the city or town clerk.
How do I find out if someone has a criminal record in Rhode Island?
Use the Attorney General's BCI background check, which costs $5 for a state name-based check covering Rhode Island fingerprint-supported convictions. It does not include dismissals, acquittals, or out-of-state records; for those, check the court where the case would have been filed.
Where do I look for a will or probate estate in Rhode Island?
Contact the probate court in the city or town where the person lived, usually run out of the town or city clerk's office (Providence has a separate elected probate clerk). There is no county-level or statewide probate search.
What happened to older Rhode Island court records?
Closed and older case files are transferred to the Judicial Records Center in Pawtucket, which holds the Judiciary's semi-active, inactive, and archival records, including pre-1900 records from the state's five historic counties.
How do I get a certified copy of a Rhode Island court record?
Request it from the clerk's office of the court that handled the case, or from the Judicial Records Center if the file has been archived there. A standard certified copy is $3 per document; a Family Court divorce decree or final judgment is $25.
Sources
- Rhode Island Judiciary — About — https://www.courts.ri.gov/about/Pages/default.aspx
- Rhode Island Judiciary Public Portal — https://publicportal.courts.ri.gov/PublicPortal/
- Rhode Island Judiciary — Access to Case Information — https://www.courts.ri.gov/Public-Resources/Pages/case-information.aspx
- Rhode Island Attorney General — Get a Background Check (BCI) — https://riag.ri.gov/i-want/get-background-check
- Rhode Island Judiciary — Judicial Records Center — https://www.courts.ri.gov/programs-services/Pages/judicial-records.aspx
- Rhode Island Judiciary — Judicial Records Center Policies and Procedures (fees) — https://www.courts.ri.gov/programs-services/Pages/Policies-and-Procedures.aspx
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-29-12 — Certification and search fees (copy fee per page) — https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE9/9-29/9-29-12.htm
- Rhode Island Judiciary — Courthouse and Facility Locations — https://www.courts.ri.gov/Courts/Pages/default.aspx
- Rhode Island Judiciary — Supreme Court Opinions — https://www.courts.ri.gov/Search/Pages/supreme-court-opinions.aspx
- Rhode Island Judiciary — Superior Court Main Contacts — https://www.courts.ri.gov/Courts/superiorcourt/Pages/Main-Contacts.aspx
- Rhode Island Judiciary — District Court — https://www.courts.ri.gov/courts/districtcourt/pages/default.aspx
- R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 12-1.3 — Expungement of Criminal Records — https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE12/12-1.3/12-1.3-3.htm
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1-12 — Destruction/sealing of records after acquittal — https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE12/12-1/12-1-12.htm
- United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island — https://www.rid.uscourts.gov/