Rhode Island § 8-16-8 - Commission on Judicial Tenure and Discipline

§ 8-16-8. Discipline of judges upon indictment or conviction for a crime.

(a) The supreme court on its own motion shall suspend, pending the prosecution of an appeal, any judge of any court when it is shown by the certified record of a court of competent jurisdiction that he or she either pleaded guilty or no contest or was found guilty of a crime punishable as a felony under the laws of this state, any other state, or the United States, or of any other crime that involves moral turpitude. The suspension shall be without compensation, except where the judge involved is a justice of the supreme court. Whenever, upon appeal, the conviction is reversed, the suspension shall terminate and the judge involved shall be paid the salary that would have been paid him or her during the period of suspension.

(b) Where, after an appeal, a conviction has become final, the judge involved shall be removed from office either by the supreme court in appropriate cases or, in the case of a justice of the supreme court, by action pursuant to the provisions of § 8-16-7(b).

(c) A judge is hereby disqualified and prohibited from performing his or her judicial duties while there is pending against him or her an indictment charging him or her with the commission of a crime punishable as a felony under the laws of this state, any other state, or the United States. The suspension shall be without loss of compensation.