R.I. Gen. Laws
Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-42-4 (2026)

Threats to public officials

✓ text as last checked Sept. 2026 (this copy records no edition or section history)
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(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully delivers or conveys, directly or indirectly, a verbal or written threat to take the life of, or to inflict bodily harm upon, a public official or a member of a public official’s immediate family because of the performance or nonperformance of some public duty; because of hostility of the person making the threat toward the status or position of the public official; or because of some other factor related to the official’s public existence, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be imprisoned for not more than five (5) years, or fined not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or both.

(b) Whoever knowingly and willfully delivers or conveys, directly or indirectly, a verbal or written threat to take the life of, or to inflict bodily harm upon, any election official, or a member of their immediate family because of the performance or nonperformance of their public duty; because of hostility of the person making the threat toward the status or position of the election official; or because of some other factor related to the election official’s public existence, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be imprisoned for not more than one year, or fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both.

(c) For purposes of this section:

(1) “Public official” means a person who is elected or appointed to office in accordance with the constitution, a statute, or a city or town charter, or who is a judge, magistrate, assistant attorney general, special assistant attorney general, or law enforcement officer, or in the case of an elective office, any person who has filed the required documents for nomination or election to that office or who is appointed by the governor to serve as the director or their designee of a state department that is established and the qualifications and duties of which are prescribed by statute to discharge a public duty for the state of Rhode Island;

(2) “Election official” means a person who is appointed, hired, or assigned to any polling place and includes, but is not limited to, any poll worker, election worker, warden, moderator, clerk, and any member of the board of canvassers, in accordance with any statute, town charter, or ordinance and whose qualifications and duties are prescribed by statute, town charter, or ordinance;

(3) “Immediate family” means a public official’s spouse, child, or children.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 2004–2019 · leading case: State v. Grayhurst, 852 A.2d 491 (R.I. 2004).
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State v. Grayhurst, 852 A.2d 491 (R.I. 2004). · cites it 13× “Also, G.L.1956 § 11-42-4, which defines the crime of threatening a public official, does not require that defendant convey his threats directly to the subjects of those threats.”
State v. Frederick Baillargeron, 58 A.3d 194 (R.I. 2013). · cites it 9× “The defendant was charged by information with threatening a public official with bodily harm “as a result of the lawful performance of his official duties” in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-42-4. 1 The motion justice ruled that, based on the contents of the information package, the…”
State v. Michael Neugent, 218 A.3d 1011 (R.I. 2019). · cites it 2× “2 The defendant was also charged by a separate criminal information, in W2/15-70A, with one count of threatening a public official, in violation of G.L. 1956 § 11-42-4, one count of domestic assault, in violation of G.”
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