Rhode Island § 23-8-21 - Quarantine Generally

§ 23-8-21. Ship quarantine powers preserved — Local enforcement of quarantine — Rules and regulations — Penalty.

Nothing in §§ 23-8-18 — 23-8-20 shall be construed to impair the validity of any rules and regulations made and in force under the provisions of §§ 23-9-1 — 23-9-11, nor to abridge the powers of any officer mentioned in §§ 23-9-1 — 23-9-11; and every officer shall also have power, within the city or town for which he or she was appointed, to enforce, during the period that any proclamation made by the governor for the purpose of establishing quarantine shall be in force, all rules and regulations made by the state director of health; and it shall be the duty of the several city and town councils to require those officers to enforce the rules and regulations mentioned and referred to in this section within their respective cities and towns; provided, that the director of health, during the period when any proclamation of quarantine shall be in force, shall have power at any time, and from time to time, to suspend any of the rules and regulations mentioned and referred to in this section, and to make and establish rules and regulations in substitution for them and in addition to them, respecting quarantine in any city or town, and that any person knowingly violating any of those rules and regulations so made and established shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than fifty dollars ($50.00) or be imprisoned not more than two (2) years; and provided, further, that any and all powers and duties in this chapter conferred and imposed upon any officer or city or town council shall, during any quarantine period, be exercised and performed by that officer or city or town council subject to the orders and directions of the director of health.