(a)  For purposes of this section, a “financial institution” means a bank, savings bank, national bank, trust company, building and loan association, loan and investment company, credit union, safe deposit company, any person or corporation registered to sell securities under the provisions of chapter 11 of Title 7, or federal savings and loan institution authorized to do business under the laws of this state.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 40-6-22

  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Department: shall mean the Rhode Island department of human services. See Rhode Island General Laws 40-6-1
  • in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. Source: OCC
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • Public assistance: means general public assistance (GPA); supplemental security income (SSI); RI works pursuant to chapter 5. See Rhode Island General Laws 40-6-1

(b)  A financial institution, upon written request or upon request made by computer file on magnetic tape, signed or submitted by an authorized employee of the department of human services, shall inform the department of the amount deposited in the financial institution to the credit of a person named in, or otherwise identified in, the request as an applicant for, or recipient of, public assistance under this chapter or chapter 8 of this title. Upon the request, the financial institution shall provide the requested deposit information, in writing or by computer file on magnetic tape, to the department of human services within sixty (60) days from the receipt of the request. The department shall not submit its information request by computer file on magnetic tape to a financial institution that does not maintain deposit information on computer files, and the financial institution shall not be required to provide deposit information by computer file on magnetic tape.

(c)  A financial institution shall be subject to a penalty of one hundred dollars ($100) for each willful failure to provide the department with the requested information. The department may recover the penalty by civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(d)  The department of human services may disclose information obtained pursuant to this section to an agency or department of another state administering a public assistance program, provided that the department of human services has executed a reciprocal agreement with the agency or department for the reciprocal disclosure of deposit information.

History of Section.
P.L. 1987, ch. 118, art. 13, § 2.