Rhode Island signs law limiting civil arrests at courthouses
Rhode Island has enacted the Protect Our Courts Act, a courthouse-access measure that restricts federal immigration authorities from conducting specified civil arrests of people connected to judicial proceedings without a judicial warrant or order.
The law covers people who are traveling to a Rhode Island judicial proceeding, attending one or directly leaving one. The measure is identified as 2026-S 2045Aaa and 2026-H 7360Aaa.
The Rhode Island General Assembly announced the bill had been signed into law in July 2026. The approved legislative materials do not provide the exact date of the signing.
Protection applies before, during and after proceedings
The legislation is directed at civil arrests by federal immigration authorities in connection with Rhode Island judicial proceedings. Its coverage is not limited to time spent inside a courtroom: it extends to a covered person’s travel to court, attendance at the proceeding and direct departure afterward.
Under the law, a covered civil arrest may proceed when a judicial warrant or order is present. The provision therefore establishes a condition on the civil arrests it addresses rather than an unrestricted prohibition.
The enacted text concerns arrests and court security personnel, and it contains statutory protections for people attending Rhode Island court proceedings. The General Assembly’s announcement described the measure as applying to arrests by ICE or other federal immigration authorities.
The scope matters for court users whose participation is tied to a proceeding. The materials describe the law as protecting people connected to judicial proceedings, including during their trip to court and their direct departure. The law applies to Rhode Island judicial proceedings and state courts.
A court-access and public-safety measure
Supporters of the legislation said arrests at courthouses can deter witnesses and community members from taking part in court proceedings. The General Assembly framed the new law as a measure intended to protect both access to justice and public safety.
That stated purpose focuses on participation in the judicial process. Witnesses, litigants and other people involved in court matters may need to appear for proceedings, and the law sets a state-level protection for the circumstances specified in its text.
The measure is now an enacted law, not a bill awaiting another legislative vote. Its two legislative designations, 2026-S 2045Aaa and 2026-H 7360Aaa, refer to the Senate and House versions of the Protect Our Courts Act that were signed into law.
Limits of the available record
The law should not be read as a ban on every arrest at or near a courthouse. The approved materials specifically describe a restriction on civil arrests by federal immigration authorities involving people traveling to, attending or directly leaving judicial proceedings, absent a judicial warrant or order.
The materials do not establish rules for criminal arrests beyond the statutory language supplied for this measure. They also do not provide implementation guidance for courts, court security personnel or members of the public on how the law will be applied in practice.
Nor do the approved sources identify a court challenge or resolve how the statute may interact with federal authority. Those questions cannot be answered from the legislative announcement and bill text alone.
No further legislative vote, court proceeding or implementation deadline was identified in the approved materials. For now, the verified development is the enactment of a Rhode Island law that conditions the covered civil arrests at issue on the presence of a judicial warrant or order.
Sources
- Batista to protect those attending court proceedings in Rhode Island from arrest by ICE or other federal immigration authorities has been signed into law, Rhode Island General Assembly
- 2026-H 7360 bill text, Rhode Island General Assembly
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