Permits the family court to award custody of household pets to the plaintiff in a domestic abuse complaint, including the enforcement remedy of a restraining order or other injunctive relief.
Summary
H5125 amends Rhode Island’s Domestic Abuse Prevention chapter to expand the family court’s authority when issuing protective orders in domestic abuse cases. The bill updates and reorganizes statutory definitions related to domestic abuse, stalking, cyberstalking, harassing conduct, substantive dating relationships, and sexual exploitation, and it clarifies who may seek relief on behalf of minors or children in DCYF custody.
The bill’s most visible change is that it expressly allows the family court to award custody of household pets to the plaintiff in a domestic abuse complaint and to use restraining orders or other injunctive relief to enforce that custody. It also preserves and restates existing protective-order remedies, including no-contact provisions, temporary child support, firearm surrender requirements, and penalties for violations. The act takes effect upon passage.
Impact
The bill would amend §§ 15-15-1 and 15-15-3 of the Rhode Island General Laws, Chapter 15-15, by adding a definition of “household pet” and by expressly authorizing the family court to award custody of pets in domestic abuse protective-order cases. It would also reinforce the court’s ability to issue injunctive relief to protect that custody, while leaving in place the chapter’s existing provisions on firearms surrender, child support, contempt, misdemeanor penalties, and jurisdiction over adult and juvenile violations.
Sentiment
The available context suggests generally supportive sentiment, or at least no recorded opposition in the materials provided. The bill’s stated purpose is narrow and protective, focusing on giving domestic abuse survivors a clearer legal path to keep control of household pets during abuse proceedings. No committee transcript or vote record is available here, so there is no documented debate or roll-call division to indicate broader controversy.
Contention
The main substantive point of contention, based on the text itself, is the expansion of family-court relief to include pet custody and related enforcement remedies, which may raise questions about how pet ownership is treated in protective-order proceedings. More broadly, the bill continues to include significant firearm-surrender and firearm-restoration procedures in domestic abuse cases, but no specific opposition or competing viewpoints are documented in the provided record. Because there are no transcripts or votes, any disagreement is not captured in the available materials.