Rhode Island Court Records: Public Portal Search and Expungement vs. Sealing

This article covers how to search Rhode Island court records on the state's Judiciary Public Portal, what's public versus restricted, and how Rhode Island's expungement and sealing statutes differ from each other. It does not cover other states; for those, see the Court Records by State hub.

Information last verified on 2026-08-10. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How to Search Rhode Island Court Records

Rhode Island's public search tool is the Rhode Island Judiciary Public Portal, hosted at publicportal.courts.ri.gov and built on Tyler Technologies' Odyssey platform, the same underlying system several other states in this cluster use. The Portal offers a public Smart Search, described on its own landing page as a tool to search for court records, plus a separate Search Hearings function, both free. Attorneys and outside agencies that need broader access use a separate, elevated-access login rather than the general public tool.

The Portal sits behind a terms-of-use notice, which is a link to review rather than a hard click-through wall. Which specific courts and case types show up in a given search, meaning whether civil, criminal, and family matters are all covered to the same depth, is not spelled out in detail on the public landing page itself; if a particular case type is not appearing where you expect it, that is worth confirming directly with the court rather than assuming the Portal covers everything uniformly.

What's Public and What's Restricted

Rhode Island's electronic case-information access does not include sealed cases or documents, or confidential case types, documents, and information as defined by the judiciary's own rules governing electronic access, except where specifically authorized. Separately, Rhode Island's open-courts framework bars media coverage of juvenile proceedings, adoption proceedings, and Family Court matters where a juvenile is a significant participant, and state law requires the general public to be excluded from delinquency and dependency hearings.

Expungement and Sealing Are Different Tracks in Rhode Island

Rhode Island is one of the states where these two words point to genuinely different statutes, not two names for the same process, and the eligibility path depends on how your case actually ended.

Expungement, under Rhode Island General Laws Title 12, Chapter 1.3, is the track for someone who wants a felony or misdemeanor conviction cleared. Two separate clocks run here, and confusing them is the most common mistake. Section 12-1.3-2 controls when a motion may be filed at all; Section 12-1.3-3(b) controls what the court must find before granting it.

On the filing clock, Section 12-1.3-2(c) allows a motion on a misdemeanor conviction after five years from the date the sentence was completed, and Section 12-1.3-2(d) allows a motion on a felony conviction after ten years from the date the sentence was completed. Where someone is clearing multiple misdemeanors, Section 12-1.3-2(f) runs the ten years from completion of the last sentence.

On the granting side, Section 12-1.3-3(b)(1)(i) requires that in the five years preceding the filing of the motion for a misdemeanor, or the ten years preceding the filing for a felony, the petitioner has not been convicted of or arrested for any felony or misdemeanor, that no criminal proceedings are pending, that no court-imposed fees, fines, costs, assessments, or charges remain outstanding unless reduced or waived by the court, and that the petitioner has exhibited good moral character. Section 12-1.3-3(b)(2) adds that the court must find the petitioner has been rehabilitated and that expungement is consistent with the public interest.

Two gateway limits in Section 12-1.3-2(a) close the door entirely for some people. The single-conviction track is open only to a first offender, defined in Section 12-1.3-1(3) as someone convicted of one felony or misdemeanor who has no prior conviction or probation and no pending criminal proceeding. And no person convicted of a crime of violence may have those records expunged. Section 12-1.3-1(1) defines that term broadly, reaching murder, manslaughter, first-degree arson, robbery, burglary, first- and second-degree sexual assault, child molestation, kidnapping with intent to extort, and larceny from the person, among other offenses. Section 12-1.3-2(a) also requires that all outstanding court-imposed fees, fines, costs, assessments, and other monetary obligations be paid, unless the court reduces or waives them.

Section 12-1.3-2(b) sets out the separate multiple-misdemeanor track. It reaches a person convicted of more than one misdemeanor but fewer than six who has not been convicted of a felony, and it excludes convictions under Chapter 29 of Title 12 and under Sections 31-27-2 and 31-27-2.1. The corresponding granting criteria appear in Section 12-1.3-3(b)(1)(iii). Any of these motions is filed in the court where the conviction took place.

Sealing, under Section 12-1-12.1, is the track for someone who was acquitted or otherwise exonerated rather than convicted. Since January 1, 2023, a case dismissed under district court Rule 48(a) is sealed automatically by the court, without the defendant filing anything, generally within 10 to 20 days of the dismissal; dismissals from before that date require the defendant to request administrative sealing from the clerk instead. For a person acquitted after trial, filing a motion is still required: notice of the hearing date has to go to the attorney general's office and the relevant police department at least ten days beforehand, and if the court finds the person entitled to sealing, the records are sealed within 45 days.

One domestic violence provision cuts across both tracks, and it is narrower than it is usually described. Section 12-1-12.1(c) provides that in cases involving a filing entered after a plea of not guilty, guilty, or nolo contendere to a charge of a crime involving domestic violence, the court retains the records of the case for three years from the date of that filing. The trigger is the Rhode Island filing disposition, not a domestic violence charge however it happened to end, and the three years run from the date of that disposition rather than from the date the case was commenced.

This article covers the concept and the statutory framework; for a full walk-through of eligibility by offense type, see Rhode Island Expungement Laws.

Certified Copies and Practical Search Tips

For questions about the Portal itself, Rhode Island Judiciary maintains a general help desk; for a certified copy of a specific record, contact the clerk of the court where the case was handled rather than expecting the Portal to issue one directly.

Using This Information the Right Way

A Rhode Island Portal search is meant for checking your own case or a matter you have a legitimate reason to look up, not for compiling information on someone else for employment or tenant screening. A name search alone is not a Fair Credit Reporting Act compliant background check, and using a people-search aggregator site for a screening decision carries real legal risk under federal law regardless of what the aggregator's marketing claims.

Related reading: Court Records by State, How to Look Up Court Records, Are Court Records Public?, Rhode Island Background Check Laws, Rhode Island Warrant Search, and Rhode Island Public Records Laws for records held by executive-branch agencies rather than the courts.

Disclaimer

This article provides general legal information about Rhode Island court records, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Portal names, coverage, and fee information reflect their published status as of the verification date above and can change without notice. For advice about a specific case, expungement or sealing eligibility, or a specific record, consult a lawyer licensed in Rhode Island.

Last updated: 2026-08-10. Portal facts and fees reflect their published status as of August 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Rhode Island Judiciary Public Portal free?

Yes, the public Smart Search and Search Hearings functions are free. Attorneys and outside agencies use a separate elevated-access login.

What's the difference between expungement and sealing in Rhode Island?

Expungement, under Title 12 Chapter 1.3, lets someone petition to clear a conviction record. Section 12-1.3-2 allows the motion to be filed five years after a misdemeanor sentence is completed or ten years after a felony sentence is completed, and Section 12-1.3-3(b)(1) lets the court grant it only if the petitioner had no conviction or arrest during the five or ten years preceding the filing, owes no outstanding court-imposed fees or fines, and meets the statute's other criteria. A person convicted of a crime of violence cannot expunge those records at all. Sealing, under Section 12-1-12.1, is for someone acquitted or otherwise exonerated, and some dismissals are now sealed automatically.

Are dismissed cases sealed automatically in Rhode Island?

Cases dismissed under district court Rule 48(a) on or after January 1, 2023 are sealed automatically by the court, generally within 10 to 20 days, without the defendant filing a motion. Earlier dismissals require requesting administrative sealing from the clerk.

Can a domestic violence case be expunged or sealed right away?

Not where the case ended in a Rhode Island filing disposition. Section 12-1-12.1(c) requires the court to retain the records for three years where a filing was entered after a plea of not guilty, guilty, or nolo contendere to a charge of a crime involving domestic violence, measured from the date of that filing. That subsection does not address a domestic violence case that ended in an outright acquittal, and separate expungement limits in Chapter 1.3 can still apply.