Rhode Island General Laws Title 12. Criminal Procedure § 12-1.3-1. Definitions

(1) “ Crime of violence” includes murder, manslaughter, first-degree arson, kidnapping with intent to extort, robbery, larceny from the person, first-degree sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault, first- and second-degree child molestation, assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to rob, assault with intent to commit first-degree sexual assault, burglary, and entering a dwelling house with intent to commit murder, robbery, sexual assault, or larceny.

(2) “ Expungement of records and records of conviction” means the sealing and retention of all records of a conviction and/or probation and the removal from active files of all records and information relating to conviction and/or probation.

(3) “ First offender” means a person who has been convicted of a felony offense or a misdemeanor offense, and who has not been previously convicted of or placed on probation for a felony or a misdemeanor and against whom there is no criminal proceeding pending in any court.

(4) “ Law enforcement agency” means a state police organization of this or any other state; the enforcement division of the department of environmental management; the office of the state fire marshal; the capitol police; a law enforcement agency of the federal government; and any agency, department, or bureau of the United States government that has as one of its functions the gathering of intelligence data.

(5) “ Misdemeanor” includes, but is not limited to, those crimes previously classified as felonies under law at the time the original sentence was imposed but reclassified by the general assembly as a misdemeanor in the interim, prior to the time the motion to expunge is brought.

(6) “ Records” and “ records of conviction and/or probation” include all court records, all records in the possession of any state or local police department, the bureau of criminal identification, and the probation department, including, but not limited to, any fingerprints, photographs, physical measurements, or other records of identification. The terms “records” and “records of conviction and/or probation” do not include the records and files of the department of attorney general which are not kept by the bureau of criminal identification in the ordinary course of the bureau's business.