Rhode Island No-Contact Orders and Violation Charges

A no-contact order is a criminal court order. The other person does not apply for it. It issues because you were charged with or arrested for a crime involving domestic violence.

Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-29-4(a)(1), a person charged with or arrested for a domestic violence crime cannot simply post bail and leave. Before arraignment, that person must first appear before the court or a bail commissioner. The court or bail commissioner who authorizes release must issue a no-contact order prohibiting contact with the victim.

At arraignment or the bail hearing, the court or bail commissioner decides whether the order should be issued or extended (§ 12-29-4(a)(2)). The order can also be made part of the disposition when the case ends (§ 12-29-4(a)(3)). So the order is tied to the criminal case at each stage: set at release, reviewed at arraignment, and sometimes continued as part of the sentence. Ask at each hearing what the current order says, because the terms can change from one date to the next.

The written order carries a required legend. It reads: "Violation of this order is a criminal offense under this section and will subject a violator to arrest." A copy goes to the victim. Whenever the order is issued, modified or terminated, the clerk sends a copy to the law enforcement agency named in the order by the next court day (§ 12-29-4(a)(5)).

Domestic violence crimes are listed in R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-29-2(a). They include simple assault, felony assault, vandalism, disorderly conduct, trespass and stalking, among others, when committed by one family or household member against another. A family or household member includes a spouse or former spouse and an adult relative. It includes a person who lives with you, or did in the past three years, and a person with whom you have a child. It also includes a person you dated or were engaged to within the past year (§ 12-29-2(b)).

The statute prohibits contact with the victim and makes a willful violation a crime. It does not list every kind of contact. The wording of your written order controls, so read it before you do anything.

Courts read these orders strictly. In State v. Lopes, 884 A.2d 397 (R.I. 2005), the Rhode Island Supreme Court rejected a claimed exception for discussing visitation and the children's well-being. That order prohibited any contact and contained no such exception. If your order says no contact, treat every form of contact as covered unless the court has said otherwise in writing. That means a call, a text, an email, a social media message, a gift, or a message passed through a friend or relative.

The protected person cannot cancel the order or give you permission to make contact. A text inviting you home, a voicemail saying the case is over, or a request to talk about the children does not change the order. Only the court can modify or terminate it, and the clerk records each change (§ 12-29-4(a)(5)). The statute also directs the court to make clear that the prosecution is decided by the prosecutor, not the victim (§ 12-29-4(b)(4)).

Being in the same place can raise questions too. If the protected person comes to where you are, leave and write down what happened. Our post on Rhode Island no-contact order conditions explains how to read the order and what to gather before asking the court for a change.

A willful violation of a no-contact order issued under § 12-29-4 is a misdemeanor (§ 12-29-4(a)(3)). Rhode Island defines a misdemeanor as a crime punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both (R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-1-2).

The violation is also, by itself, a crime of domestic violence. R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-29-2(a)(10) lists a violation of a no-contact order issued under § 12-29-4 among the domestic violence offenses. That means § 12-29-5 applies to a conviction, a probation term, or a filing on a nolo contendere plea:

A no-contact order violation often follows an assault charge, so the violation can be the second domestic violence misdemeanor on your record. That is when the 10-day minimum applies. Since July 1, 2025, these violations are prosecuted by attorneys who have completed specialized domestic violence prosecution training (§ 12-29-4(a)(3)).

The order can be modified or terminated only by the court. The path is a motion in the criminal case. The motion asks the judge to change a specific term, such as allowing contact about the children or through lawyers, or to end the order.

The judge decides. The prosecutor is heard, and the protected person's position is usually before the court as well. A motion is taken more seriously when it is specific, documents the practical problem, and attaches any Family Court orders about the same people.

A typical motion identifies the order by date and court, names the term you want changed, explains why, and proposes the narrowest change that solves the problem. Common requests include contact limited to text messages about child exchanges, contact through lawyers, or one supervised trip to collect belongings. The court can grant, deny or narrow the request. The protected person's agreement is relevant, but it does not decide the motion.

Until the judge signs a new order, the existing order stays in force. Bring the current order, every earlier version, the release papers and any related civil orders to the first meeting.

People use the words interchangeably, but Rhode Island law separates them. A no-contact order comes from the criminal court as a condition of release or disposition under § 12-29-4. A protective order is a civil order that a person asks for. Under § 12-29-2(c), a protective order means an order issued under R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-5-19, chapter 15 of title 15, or chapter 8.1 of title 8.

The two can exist at the same time and have different terms. Violating a protective order, when you knew of the order and its penalty, is also listed as a domestic violence crime in § 12-29-2(a)(10). Keep every order together and label each with its court and case number, because one order does not change the other.

1. Arrest. The legend on the order says a violation will subject the violator to arrest. Because the new charge is a domestic violence crime, § 12-29-4(a)(1) applies again. You cannot be released before arraignment without appearing before the court or a bail commissioner, and a new no-contact order issues.
2. Arraignment. The violation is arraigned in the District Court as a misdemeanor. The court decides whether to issue or extend the order (§ 12-29-4(a)(2)). Our guide to what happens at an arraignment in Providence covers the day.
3. Bail. The court sets bail and conditions on the new charge.
4. The underlying case. The violation charge is separate from the original case, which continues on its own track. A new charge while that case is open can also lead the prosecutor to ask the court to revisit your release conditions there.
5. Pretrial and resolution. The two cases are often handled together at pretrial, and the resolution of one usually affects the other.

If the original case was placed on file, the stakes are higher. A domestic violence filing under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-10-12 is conditioned on keeping the peace for three years. The records cannot be expunged or sealed for three years from the filing date (§ 12-29-4(d), § 12-1-12(c)). A violation charge during that period can lead the court to act on the filed case.

Preserve everything: the full message threads, the call logs and the order itself. Do not reply to the protected person to explain, even to say that you are not allowed to talk. See our Rhode Island domestic violence defense page for the underlying charges and our Rhode Island assault and battery page for the charge that most often starts these cases.