Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Rhode Island General Assembly, fetched 2026-07-29. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. The official bill page.
H8296 2026 -- H 8296 ======== LC006080 ======== STATE OF RHODE ISLAND IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026 ____________ A N A C T RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE -- RAILROAD, STEAMBOAT, AND BRIDGE POLICE Introduced By: Representatives Read, Noret, Casey, Casimiro, Paplauskas, and Voas Date Introduced: March 13, 2026 Referred To: House State Government & Elections It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 12-2 of the General Laws entitled Railroad, Steamboat, and Bridge 2 Police is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 3 12-2-9. Privacy protections for railway employees. 4 (a) Any police report involving a railroad fatality and all communications between police 5 officers and railroad crew members involved in such fatality, shall not be made public and shall be 6 maintained by the police department that responds to such fatality, in a manner that shall ensure 7 confidentiality; provided, however, that all such reports shall be accessible at all reasonable times, 8 upon written request, to: 9 (1) The host railroad; 10 (2) The railroad of employ of any employee mentioned in such reports; and 11 (3) Any other person authorized by judicial order to obtain such information, if access to 12 such report is necessary in the performance of their duties; and provided, further, that all such 13 reports shall be accessible at all reasonable times, upon written or electronic mail request to law 14 enforcement officers, or the office of attorney general. 15 (b) Communications between police officers and railroad employees concerning any 16 railroad fatality incident may be shared with any person listed in subsection (a) of this section, if 17 such access is necessary to the performance of their duties. 18 (c) A violation of this section shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one 1 year or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both. 2 SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. ======== LC006080 ======== LC006080 - Page 2 of 3 EXPLANATION BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF A N A C T RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE -- RAILROAD, STEAMBOAT, AND BRIDGE POLICE *** 1 This act would provide any police report and all communications between railroad 2 employees involving a railroad fatality not be made public. Additionally, this act would make a 3 violation of this section a misdemeanor. 4 This act would take effect upon passage. ======== LC006080 ======== LC006080 - Page 3 of 3
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