(a)  Every person, firm, corporation, partnership, association, or other legal entity contracting with a criminally responsible person, alleged criminally responsible person, or with the legal representative or assignee of the person regarding the commercial exploitation of the events and circumstances constituting and/or surrounding and/or motivating the crime or alleged crime shall submit a copy of the contract, within ten (10) days of the making of the contract, to the general treasurer and shall pay over to the general treasurer, within ten (10) days of it becoming due and payable, any and all monies or other compensation which would otherwise by the terms of the contract be due and payable to or distributed at the direction of that person. All rights, causes of action, or other entitlements accruing to any criminally responsible person, alleged criminally responsible person, or the legal representative or assignee of the person for the commercial exploitation shall inure to and be enforceable by the general treasurer for the benefit of the criminal royalties fund established by this chapter.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-3

  • Alleged criminally responsible person: means a person who has been indicted or against whom a criminal information has been proferred for the commission of a felony committed within the state of Rhode Island which caused another person to suffer personal injury or loss of property, but who has not yet been either convicted or acquitted of the charge nor had the charge dismissed. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • Commercial exploitation: means any significant commercial exploitation by means of any publication, reenactment, dramatization, interview, depiction, explanation, or expression through any medium of communication which is undertaken for financial consideration, except tangential and incidental references to a crime. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • 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.
  • Court: means the superior court. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
  • Criminally responsible person: means a person who has been convicted of a felony committed within the state of Rhode Island which caused another person to suffer personal injury or loss of property, or who has been adjudicated not guilty by reason of insanity after a trial on a charge of the offense, or who has voluntarily admitted the commission of the offense. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • 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 defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
  • Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Victim: means a person who suffers personal injury or loss of property as a direct result of the conduct of another person in perpetration of a criminal offense. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2

(b)  All monies paid to or recovered by the general treasurer pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be collectively known as the “criminal royalties fund.” Except as required for payment of awards under this chapter, the general treasurer shall manage and invest the criminal royalties fund in accordance with §?35-10-11.

(c)(1)  Claims against any portion of the criminal royalties fund attributable to a specific criminally responsible person shall have the following priorities:

(i)  Claims by the state for costs incurred in providing defense counsel for the criminally responsible person by means of the public defender or a court appointed attorney;

(ii)  Claims by the state and its political subdivisions for costs incurred in the investigation of the crime and the prosecution and trial of the criminally responsible person;

(iii)  Claims by the victim or victims of the criminally responsible person pursuant to §?12-25.1-4;

(iv)  Claims by the state pursuant to §?12-25-26;

(v)  Civil judgments in favor of the victim or victims of the criminally responsible person;

(vi)  After claims arising under paragraphs (i) — (v) of this subdivision have been resolved and the statute of limitations for the claims has expired, one-half ( 1 / 2 ) of the remainder of the funds attributable to a specific criminally responsible person shall be transferred to the violent crimes indemnity fund established by §?12-25-28;

(vii)  Claims by other creditors of the criminally responsible person; and

(viii)  Claims by the criminally responsible person or persons claiming through him or her.

(2)  Claims against the criminal royalties fund shall be made against the portion of the fund attributable to the specific criminally responsible person and not against the fund as a whole. No payment shall be made out of the fund when that payment would be in derogation of claims, either present or pending, entitled to a higher priority under this subsection. The general treasurer may bring an action of interpleader or an action for a declaratory judgment where he or she cannot determine the priority of claims and the proper disposition of funds. Monies in the fund shall not be subject to execution, levy, attachment, or lien except in accordance with the priorities set forth in this subsection. Any party aggrieved by a final determination and order of the general treasurer arising from his administration of the criminal royalties fund may seek judicial review of the decision pursuant to The Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 35 of Title 42.

History of Section.
P.L. 1983, ch. 328, § 1; P.L. 2001, ch. 86, § 24.