(a)  The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available to each justice of the supreme, superior, family, and district courts, to each judge of the workers’ compensation court, the general magistrate of the family court, and to each judge or magistrate of the traffic tribunal of the state of Rhode Island, so long as that member is serving, a special motor vehicle registration plate.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 31-3-47

  • Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
  • magistrate: may be construed to mean a justice, or a clerk acting as a justice, of a district court. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
  • Motor vehicle: means any vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power for use on the public streets, roads, and highways;

    (2)  "Odometer" means an instrument for measuring and recording the actual distance a motor vehicle travels while in operation;

    (3)  "Person" means any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or business trust including, but not limited to, private individuals and motor vehicle dealers, both wholesale and retail, whether the private individual or dealer is a dealer in the ordinary course of business or not;

    (4)  "Repair and replacement" means to restore to a sound working condition by replacing the instrument or any part thereof or by correcting what is inoperative;

    (5)  "Transfer" means to acquire ownership by purchase, gift, bequest, or any other means. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-23.2-2

  • seal: shall be construed to include an impression of the seal made with or without the use of wax or wafer on the paper. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-15

(b)  Each special motor vehicle registration plate shall carry thereon the design and the seal of the state of Rhode Island and the word, “judiciary.”

(c)  The special motor vehicle registration plate shall have consecutive numbers starting with one through the combined number of people entitled to said plates. Numbers one through five (5) shall be assigned to the supreme court; numbers six (6) through eight (8) shall be assigned to the presiding justice of superior court, chief judge of family court, and chief judge of district court, number nine (9) shall be assigned to the chief judge of the workers’ compensation court; number ten (10) shall be assigned to the chief magistrate of the traffic tribunal. Each remaining member of the judiciary, and the remaining members of the workers’ compensation court, and the remaining judges and magistrates of the traffic tribunal and the general magistrate of the family court will then be awarded a number according to seniority. The administrator of the division of motor vehicles shall reassign numbers no more than every four (4) years after the initial distribution.

(d)  Each member of the judiciary, workers’ compensation court, the general magistrate of the family court and traffic tribunal, as provided in this section, shall have the option of displaying at any time that plate or the private registration plate assigned to his or her vehicle.

(e)  The administrator of the division of motor vehicles shall issue the judiciary plate upon payment, in addition to the regular prescribed motor vehicle registration fee, of a service charge of ten dollars ($10.00) for each issue and for each registration renewal.

History of Section.
P.L. 1983, ch. 195, § 1; P.L. 1987, ch. 52, § 2; P.L. 1998, ch. 442, § 4; P.L. 2008, ch. 1, § 9; P.L. 2021, ch. 77, § 14, effective June 23, 2021; P.L. 2021, ch. 78, § 14, effective June 23, 2021.