H 7132

2026 -- H 7132
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  STATE  OF        RHODE  ISLAND
  IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
  JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
  ____________
  AN ACT
  RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- HOMICIDE
  Introduced By: Representatives Casimiro, Shallcross Smith, Kislak, Speakman, Alzate,
  Stewart, Craven, and McEntee
  Date Introduced: January 15, 2026
  Referred To: House Judiciary
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
1SECTION 1. Sections 11-23-2 and 11-23-2.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-23 entitled
2 "Homicide" are hereby amended to read as follows:
311-23-2. Penalties for murder.
4Every person guilty of murder in the first degree shall be imprisoned for life. Every person
5 guilty of murder in the first degree: (1) committed intentionally while engaged in the commission
6 of another capital offense or other felony for which life imprisonment may be imposed; (2)
7 committed in a manner creating a great risk of death to more than one person by means of a weapon
8 or device or substance which would normally be hazardous to the life of more than one person; (3)
9 committed at the direction of another person in return for money or any other thing of monetary
10 value from that person; (4) committed in a manner involving torture or an aggravated battery to the
11 victim; (5) committed against any member of the judiciary, law enforcement officer, corrections
12 employee, assistant attorney general or special assistant attorney general, or firefighter arising from
13 the lawful performance of his or her official duties; (6) committed by a person who at the time of
14 the murder was committed to confinement in the adult correctional institutions or the state
15 reformatory for women upon conviction of a felony; or (7) committed during the course of the
16 perpetration or attempted perpetration of felony manufacture, sale, delivery or other distribution of
17 a controlled substance otherwise prohibited by the provisions of chapter 28 of title 21; shall be
18 imprisoned for life and if ordered by the court pursuant to chapter 19.2 of title 12 that person shall
19 not be eligible for parole from imprisonment; provided that, no person twenty-one (21) years of
1 age or younger shall be imprisoned without the possibility of parole. Every person guilty of murder
2 in the second degree shall be imprisoned for not less than ten (10) years and may be imprisoned for
3 life.
411-23-2.1. Penalty for murder of a kidnapped person under the age of eighteen (18).
5If any person under the age of eighteen (18) who is kidnapped in violation of § 11-26-1 by
6 a person other than his or her natural or adopted parent dies as a direct result of the kidnapping,
7 then the person convicted of the offense shall be guilty of murder in the first degree and shall be
8 punished by imprisonment for life, and the court may, pursuant to chapter 19.2 of title 12, order
9 that that person not be eligible for parole, provided, that no person twenty-one (21) years of age or
10 younger shall be imprisoned without the possibility of parole.
11SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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  EXPLANATION
  BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
  OF
  AN ACT
  RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- HOMICIDE
  ***
1This act would prohibit the imposition of a sentence of life without parole upon any person
2 twenty-one (21) years of age or younger.
3This act would take effect upon passage.
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