Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-24-1 (2026)

Licensing and regulatory power of towns and cities

✓ current as of July 2026
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(a) Any town or city council has the power to regulate, including the setting of hours of operation, the keeping of taverns, victualing houses, cookshops, oyster houses, and oyster cellars in the town or city, by granting licenses for those activities, upon any compensation for the benefit of the town or city that they see fit to impose, or by refusing to grant the licenses. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, all licenses issued pursuant to this section entitle the license holder to operate continuously after six o’clock (6:00) A.M. but not after two o’clock (2:00) A.M.

(b) Upon application by any holder of a license issued pursuant to this section to the city or town council issuing that license and upon a showing of public convenience and necessity after a public hearing before that city or town council after having given notice by publication once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a daily or weekly newspaper published and circulated in the county in which the city or town issuing the license is located, the council may grant the application for additional operational hours between two o’clock (2:00) A.M. and six o’clock (6:00) A.M.

(c) For the purposes of this chapter a “victualing house” is a business where food is prepared and/or consumed on the premises.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases, 1965–2002 · leading case: Amico's Inc. v. Mattos, 789 A.2d 899 (R.I. 2002).
Amico's Inc. v. Mattos, 789 A.2d 899 (R.I. 2002). · cites it 26× “The defendants, Thomas Mattos, who was finance director of the town, members of both the council and the board of licenses, and the town manager, argued that the home rule charter as well as the town's clear authority to regulate victualing establishments under G.L.1956 §…”
El Nido, Inc. v. Goldstein, 626 A.2d 239 (R.I. 1993). · cites it 7× “1956 (1987 Reenactment) § 5-24-1, which would allow petitioner to prepare and sell food to be consumed on the premises.”
Hvr, Inc. v. City of Newport, Ri, 145 F. Supp. 2d 177 (D.R.I. 2001). · cites it 9× “First, plaintiff claims that the City’s licensing authority under R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-24-1 does not encompass the authority to impose fees relating to litter control.”
Santos v. City Council of City of East Providence, 208 A.2d 387 (R.I. 1965). · cites it 2× “1956, §5-24-1, provides, in pertinent part, that town councils are authorized “to regulate the keeping *442 of taverns, victualing houses * * * by granting licenses therefor, upon such compensation for the benefit of the town as they shall see fit to impose, or 'by refusing to…”
Southland Corp. v. City of Warwick, 486 A.2d 610 (R.I. 1985). · cites it 2× “The petitioners argue that such a license is unnecessary because the 7-Eleven store is not a “victualing house” within the meaning of that section. Unfortunately, the statute does not provide a definition of that term.”
R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-24-1(a): 2 cases
Amico's Inc. v. Mattos, 789 A.2d 899 (R.I. 2002). “The defendants, Thomas Mattos, who was finance director of the town, members of both the council and the board of licenses, and the town manager, argued that the home rule charter as well as the town's clear authority to regulate victualing establishments under G.L.1956 §…”
Hvr, Inc. v. City of Newport, Ri, 145 F. Supp. 2d 177 (D.R.I. 2001). “First, plaintiff claims that the City’s licensing authority under R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-24-1 does not encompass the authority to impose fees relating to litter control.”
R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-24-1(c): 1 case
Amico's Inc. v. Mattos, 789 A.2d 899 (R.I. 2002). “The defendants, Thomas Mattos, who was finance director of the town, members of both the council and the board of licenses, and the town manager, argued that the home rule charter as well as the town's clear authority to regulate victualing establishments under G.L.1956 §…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.