Rhode Island
Rhode Island does not certify corrections officers. The Director of the Department of Corrections (RIDOC) trains, hires, and disciplines staff in a unified state system that also holds pretrial detainees, and RIDOC runs adult probation and parole. State law limits restraints on pregnant prisoners and requires evidence-based training for probation and parole officers. Since June 22, 2026, a person in RIDOC custody who uses force or a weapon to resist a corrections officer’s lawful directive commits a crime.
- Sources checked
- Part of
- Corrections Ledger
At a glance
- Certifying body
- No state certifying body for corrections officers. The RIDOC Director must establish training programs for department employees, including an application system for the department’s correctional officer training academy, and may contract for training of correctional officers and staff (R.I. Gen. Laws 42-56-10(14), (19)). RIDOC correctional officers are listed as peace officers for purposes of the arrest chapter (12-7-21(16)). The Police Officers Commission on Standards and Training covers police training (see the Rhode Island Officer Ledger page).
- Statute
- Corrections Department, R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 42-56 (Director’s powers 42-56-10; probation and parole 42-56-7); Healthy Pregnancies for Incarcerated Women Act, chapter 42-56.3; Correctional Officers’ Incentive Pay Plan, chapter 42-56.1 (chapter 42-56 index).
- Minimum standards
- No statutory minimum hiring standards for correctional officers were found in chapter 42-56. The Director hires, promotes, disciplines, and discharges employees (42-56-10(7)) and runs the academy application system (42-56-10(14)). RIDOC regulations could not be checked, because the Secretary of State’s regulations site returned a browser challenge.
- Basic training
- No statutory basic training hours for correctional officers were found; the Director sets training through the RIDOC correctional officer training academy (42-56-10(14)). Probation and parole officers must be trained in validated risk and needs assessments, risk-based supervision, cognitive behavioral interventions, criminal risk factors, incentives, swift and proportionate sanctions, recognizing substance use and mental health needs, and de-escalation (42-56-7(f), (g)).
- In-service training
- No statutory in-service hour requirement for correctional officers or probation and parole officers was found.
- Decertification
- None. No certification or decertification process for corrections officers or probation and parole officers was found. The Director disciplines staff as appointing authority (42-56-5, 42-56-10(7)) and must investigate grievances and alleged misconduct within the department (42-56-10(15)).
- Jail standards
- RIDOC runs a unified state system; no county jails were found, and pretrial detainees are committed to the Adult Correctional Institutions (see 42-56-22, which covers labor by persons committed to answer criminal charges). The Director must establish and enforce standards for all state correctional facilities (42-56-10(3)). No separate external jail standards body was found.
- Probation and parole officers
- Adult probation and parole is a function of RIDOC’s division of rehabilitative services under the Director (42-56-7(a)). The division must use validated risk and needs screens; give limited supervision to probationers who qualify by offense level, violation-free time under supervision, and validated assessment results; give high-intensity supervision and treatment to high-risk, high-need probationers; adopt guidelines on incentives and swift, proportionate sanctions other than confinement; and train probation and parole officers in the listed subjects, with selected officers becoming trainers (42-56-7(b) to (g)).
- Restrictive housing
- No statute limiting solitary confinement or restrictive housing was found in chapter 42-56, and no 2023 to 2026 public law on the subject was found in a sweep of the public laws for those years.
- Corrections use of force
- Pregnant prisoners and detainees: in the second or third trimester, only medically appropriate restraints. No handcuffs, shackles, or other restraints during transport to a medical facility, labor, delivery, or postpartum recovery unless there are compelling grounds to believe the person is an immediate and serious threat of physical harm or a substantial flight risk that cannot be contained by other means. A correctional officer must remove restraints immediately if the treating health professional asks (after consulting the DOC medical director, absent exigent circumstances). Leg and waist restraints are never allowed in labor or delivery, nor waist restraints in postpartum recovery. Any restraint must be the least restrictive, and an officer who uses restraints under the exception must file written findings within 5 days, kept open for public inspection without identifying information (42-56.3-3). Since June 22, 2026, using force or a weapon to resist a corrections officer’s lawful directive is a misdemeanor (12-7-10(a)(2); see the entry below).
Changes, 2023 to 2026
New offense: using force or a weapon to resist a corrections officer’s lawful directive
New 12-7-10(a)(2): “It shall be unlawful for any person in custody of the Rhode Island department of corrections to use any force or weapon to resist a lawful request or directive by a corrections officer.” A lawful request or directive is an order issued within the scope of the officer’s official duties and consistent with state law and department regulations. The penalty is the same as for resisting arrest: a fine of up to $500, up to 1 year, or both. The section’s catchline now reads “Resisting legal or illegal arrest by peace officer-Resisting directive of correctional officer.”
For corrections staff: Forcible resistance to a lawful order is a separate misdemeanor; a charge depends on the order being within your duties and consistent with law and department regulations.
Enacted, not yet in force, pending, and bills that did not pass
No enacted corrections change was found awaiting its effective date. Only enacted public laws were swept (2023 ch. 1 to 398, 2024 ch. 1 to 457, 2025 ch. 1 to 473, and 2026 ch. 1 to 427). The legislature’s bill status system was not searched, so bills that did not pass, including any on solitary confinement, are not listed.
RIDOC regulations (Title 240 of the Rhode Island Code of Regulations) could not be read, because the Secretary of State’s regulations site served a JavaScript and cookie challenge. Any 2023 to 2026 RIDOC rule changes on use of force, restrictive housing, or staff training are unchecked.
Checked and unchanged
- Not counted: P.L. 2023, ch. 161 and 162 (inmate earnings account cap raised to $2,000), ch. 169 and 170 (demographic data collection and annual summary), and ch. 228 and 229 (institutional industries credit of 2 to 5 days a month), judged outside staff duties.
- Not counted: P.L. 2025, ch. 173 and 174 remove the prostitution-offense penalty assessment for the women’s community correctional program.
Bills in the legislature
Bills in the current session whose title concerns corrections officers, jails, probation and parole, and conditions of confinement, found automatically in LegiScan's copy of the legislature's records and refreshed daily (last on October 21, 2026). This list is not reviewed by an editor and is not a summary of the bills; each links to the legislature's own page, which controls. Bills that become law are added to the dated entries above once checked.
- Introduced
S2368: Adds probation officers and parole officers to the definition of "police officer" for purposes of salary payments during line of duty illness or injury.
Last action January 30, 2026: Introduced, referred to Senate Finance. 2026 Regular Session.
- Introduced
H7652: Requires sentencing court to consider whether defendant is parent of child, or caregiver of elderly, disabled or terminally ill person whose well-being would be adversely affected by the person's incarceration and if …
Last action April 2, 2026: Committee recommended measure be held for further study. 2026 Regular Session.
- Introduced
H7802: Adds probation officer and parole officer to the list of public safety employees that are entitled to their full salary if they are injured and become disabled as a result of performance of their job duties.
Last action April 16, 2026: Committee recommended measure be held for further study. 2026 Regular Session.
- Introduced
H8117: Repeals 42-56-38.1 and requires the department of corrections to provide free communication services to inmates and juveniles held in residential placement or detention centers and requires that those facilities provi…
Last action March 24, 2026: Committee recommended measure be held for further study. 2026 Regular Session.
- Enacted
S2733: Makes it unlawful for a person in the custody of the department of corrections to use any force or weapon to resist a lawful request or directive.
Last action June 22, 2026: Signed by Governor. 2026 Regular Session.
- Introduced
S2984: Repeals 42-56-38.1 and requires the department of corrections to provide free communication services to inmates and juveniles held in residential placement or detention centers and requires that those facilities provi…
Last action May 12, 2026: Committee recommended measure be held for further study. 2026 Regular Session.
- Introduced
S2977: Establishes the restrictive housing oversight committee ("committee") for the purpose of monitoring the use of restrictive housing ("solitary confinement"), as well as disciplinary and administrative confinement at th…
Last action May 12, 2026: Committee recommended measure be held for further study. 2026 Regular Session.
- Introduced
H8275: Establishes the restrictive housing oversight committee ("committee") for the purpose of monitoring the use of restrictive housing ("solitary confinement"), as well as disciplinary and administrative confinement at th…
Last action April 2, 2026: Committee recommended measure be held for further study. 2026 Regular Session.
- Enacted
H8463: Makes it unlawful for a person in the custody of the department of corrections to use any force or weapon to resist a lawful request or directive.
Last action June 22, 2026: Signed by Governor. 2026 Regular Session.
The law, section by section
Every section of the statutes and rules this page relies on that could be read from an official source, 67 in all, each linked to the official text. Headings are copied from the official tables of contents, checked October 21, 2026.
Rhode Island General Laws, Chapters 42-56, 42-56.1, and 42-56.3: Corrections Department, Correctional Officers' Incentive Pay, and Healthy Pregnancies for Incarcerated WomenStatute · 65 sections
Official text current through Rhode Island General Assembly statute pages; latest public law cited in the histories of 12-7-10, 42-56-7, and 42-56-10: P.L. 2019 (read 2026-10-21). R.I. Gen. Laws chs. 42-56, 42-56.1, 42-56.3, official text
CHAPTER 42-56. CORRECTIONS DEPARTMENT
- 42-56-1 Declaration of policy
- 42-56-2 Establishment of department — Director
- 42-56-3 Transfer of functions from the department of human services
- 42-56-4 Organization of department
- 42-56-5 Director to be the appointing authority
- 42-56-5.1 Justice reinvestment
- 42-56-6 Management of institutions
- 42-56-7 Parole and probation
- 42-56-8 Departmental seal
- 42-56-9 Authority of department broadly construed
- 42-56-10 Powers of the director
- 42-56-14 Buildings and grounds comprising institutions
- 42-56-14.1 Statutory references to former institutions
- 42-56-15 References to jailers and jail keepers
- 42-56-16 Deputy warden and employees, women’s division, adult correctional institutions
- 42-56-17 Identification and description of inmates
- 42-56-18 Inmate furloughs
- 42-56-19 Educational and vocational training unit
- 42-56-20 Care and employment of short-term prisoners
- 42-56-20.2 Community confinement
- 42-56-20.3 Community correctional program for women offenders
- 42-56-20.5 Establishment of a women’s transitional housing facility
- 42-56-20.6 Restitution mandatory — Prior to community confinement
- 42-56-21 Labor of prisoners committed for criminal offense, qui tam, penal action, or failure to give recognizance
- 42-56-21.1 Notification upon work release
- 42-56-21.2 Restitution mandatory — Prior to work release
- 42-56-22 Labor by persons committed on mesne process or to answer criminal charge
- 42-56-23 Body of deceased inmate
- 42-56-24 Earned time for good behavior or program participation or completion
- 42-56-26 Additional time allowed for meritorious service
- 42-56-27 Clothing and payment of discharged prisoners
- 42-56-28 Prisoners previously sentenced
- 42-56-29 Receiving and orientation unit — Study of incoming prisoners
- 42-56-30 Classification board
- 42-56-31 Determination of classification and rehabilitation programs of prisoners
- 42-56-32 Classification unit
- 42-56-33 Training school for youth
- 42-56-34 Designation of land and buildings for training school for youth
- 42-56-36 Transfer of powers and functions from department of corrections
- 42-56-37 Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing
- 42-56-38 Assessment of costs
- 42-56-38.1 Prisoner telephone use
- 42-56-38.2 Furnishing of health records
- 42-56-39 Prison impact statement
- 42-56-40 Transfer of foreign convicted offenders under treaty
- 42-56-41 Severability
- 42-56-42 Severability
CHAPTER 42-56.1. CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS’ INCENTIVE PAY PLAN
- 42-56.1-1 Establishment
- 42-56.1-2 Eligibility
- 42-56.1-3 Incentive steps
- 42-56.1-4 Approved course of study
- 42-56.1-5 Point system
- 42-56.1-6 Payments
- 42-56.1-7 Credit carryover
- 42-56.1-8 Ineligibility for other incentive payments
- 42-56.1-9 Appropriation
- 42-56.1-10 Applicability to retirement benefits or longevity pay
CHAPTER 42-56.3. THE HEALTHY PREGNANCIES FOR INCARCERATED WOMEN ACT
Rhode Island General Laws, Chapter 12-7 (sections 12-7-10 and 12-7-21): ArrestStatute · 2 sections
Official text current through Rhode Island General Assembly statute pages; latest public law cited in the history of 12-7-10: P.L. 2019 (read 2026-10-21). Only the two sections the page cites (resisting a corrections officer's lawful directive; correctional officers as peace officers) are listed from chapter 12-7. R.I. Gen. Laws 12-7-10, 12-7-21, official text
CHAPTER 12-7. ARREST
No rules are listed: the page cites no RIDOC regulation by number and reports that the Secretary of State's regulations site returned a browser challenge. Repealed sections are omitted. The online text of 12-7-10 cites no public law later than P.L. 2019, so the 2026 amendment the page describes (in force June 22, 2026) is not yet shown on the General Assembly statute pages; section headings may change when it is.
USCLI's source monitor re-reads the 8 official sources cited on this page around the clock; 3 answered unchanged at their latest check. The oldest of those checks was on October 21, 2026.
Last updated October 21, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “Rhode Island corrections law: Corrections Ledger,” uscli.org/corrections-tracker/rhode-island (last updated October 21, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.