Requires courts and bail commissioners to issue no contact orders against any person arrested for cruelty or neglect of a child, child abuse or child endangerment and to issue orders upon any finding of guilty. Violations of order would be a misdemeanor.

Plain-English Summary

This bill would require courts and bail commissioners to automatically issue "no contact orders" whenever someone is arrested for child cruelty, child neglect, child abuse, or child endangerment. A no contact order is a legal directive that prohibits the accused person from having any communication or interaction with the child involved. Under this bill, issuing these orders would not be optional — it would be mandatory any time one of these arrests occurs.

The bill also requires that a no contact order be issued if a person is found guilty of any of these offenses. This means the protection would be in place both during the legal process (starting at arrest) and after a conviction. The goal is to ensure that children who may have been harmed are separated from the accused person throughout the entire legal proceedings and beyond.

This bill primarily affects two groups of people: children who are victims of abuse or neglect, and individuals who are arrested or convicted of these offenses. Children would receive automatic legal protection without having to wait for a judge to decide whether to issue such an order on a case-by-case basis. For the accused, violating a no contact order would be considered a misdemeanor, meaning breaking the order could result in additional criminal charges, fines, or jail time.

The bill has been introduced in the Rhode Island House of Representatives and referred to the House Judiciary Committee, where it will be reviewed before any further action is taken.