(a)  Every person who shall obtain credit or accommodation at any hotel, inn, restaurant, boarding house, or lodging house by means of any false pretense, or who, with intent to defraud the proprietor, or the proprietor’s agent or servant, obtains any credit or accommodation at a hotel, inn, restaurant, boarding house or lodging house, without paying, shall be fined not exceeding twenty dollars ($20.00) or be imprisoned not exceeding thirty (30) days.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 11-18-26

  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6

(b)  Proof that lodging, food or other accommodation was obtained by false or fictitious showing or pretense of baggage, or that the person refused or neglected to pay for the food, lodging, or other accommodation, or removed or caused to be removed his or her baggage from the premises, without paying for the food, lodging, or other accommodation, shall be presumptive evidence of the fraudulent intent referred to in subsection (a) of this section; but this provision shall not apply where there has been a special agreement for delay in payment.

History of Section.
G.L. 1896, ch. 279, § 51; G.L. 1909, ch. 345, § 54; G.L. 1923, ch. 397, § 54; P.L. 1927, ch. 1047, § 1; G.L. 1938, ch. 608, § 62; G.L. 1956, § 11-18-26.