Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-8.1-2 (2026)

Filing of complaint

✓ current as of July 2026

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(a) Proceedings under this chapter shall be filed, heard, and determined in the district court of the division in which the plaintiff resides. Any proceedings under this chapter shall not preclude any other available civil or criminal remedies. A party filing a complaint under this chapter may do so without payment of any filing fee. If the plaintiff has left the residence or household to avoid abuse, he or she may bring the action in the court of previous residence or the court of present residence. There shall be no minimum residence requirements for the bringing of an action under this chapter.

(b) Answers to the summons and complaint shall be made within ten (10) days of service upon the defendant and the action shall take precedence on the calendar. If no answer is filed within the time prescribed, judgment shall enter forthwith.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 1 case, 1999–1999 · leading case: Liu v. Striuli, 36 F. Supp. 2d 452 (D.R.I. 1999).

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Liu v. Striuli, 36 F. Supp. 2d 452 (D.R.I. 1999). · cites it 4× “See R.I.Gen.Laws § 8-8.1-2. Furthermore, a complaint for a temporary order may be filed “[w]hen the court is unavailable after the close of business” before “any available district court judge” in an ex parte proceeding.”

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.