H 8296

2026 -- H 8296
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 LC006080
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  STATE  OF        RHODE  ISLAND
  IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
  JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
  ____________
  AN ACT
   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:
1SECTION 1. Chapter 12-2 of the General Laws entitled "Railroad, Steamboat, and Bridge
2 Police" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:
312-2-9. 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.
2SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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  EXPLANATION
  BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
  OF
  AN ACT
  RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE -- RAILROAD, STEAMBOAT, AND BRIDGE
  POLICE
  ***
1This 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.
4This act would take effect upon passage.
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