Repeals the provisions of § 34-7-4 regarding rights of footway being acquired by adverse possession.

Plain-English Summary

This bill would remove a specific law from Rhode Island's legal code that currently allows people to gain the right to use a footpath (a walking path across someone else's land) through a process called "adverse possession." Under the current law, if someone has been openly and continuously using a path across another person's property for a long enough period of time, they can legally claim a permanent right to keep using that path — even without the property owner's permission.

If this bill becomes law, that pathway to claiming a legal right-of-way for foot travel would no longer exist. Property owners would have greater control over who uses walking paths on their land, since others could no longer establish a legal right to use those paths simply by walking on them regularly over time. People who might have relied on this provision to maintain access to trails, shortcuts, or other walking routes across private property would lose that legal avenue.

This bill primarily affects private landowners and anyone who currently uses or might want to use a footpath crossing someone else's property. It could be relevant in rural and suburban areas where informal walking paths across private land are common. The bill has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee and is currently being held for further study, meaning legislators are still evaluating it before deciding whether to move it forward.