Civil Division

By law, the Attorney General represents the state, its agencies and employees in the Rhode Island Supreme Court and all lower state courts, institutes actions in state and federal courts whenever warranted, ensures that representation is provided to state officers, employees and agencies in all courts, advises state officers and agencies on legal issues, gives written opinions on legal issues when requested by an appropriate governmental officer and represents the interests of the people.

• Government Litigation Unit
• Providing Legal Counsel to the Contractors' Registration & Licensing Coard (CRLB)

Government Litigation Unit

In 2012 the Unit opened 901 cases and closed 1,077 cases.

The Government Litigation Unit represents the State and its agencies in defending and prosecuting State, District, Superior and United States District Court litigation, and in appeals to state and federal appellate courts. It serves as legal advisor to a broad range of state departments, agencies, boards, commissions, officers and employees.

Providing Legal Counsel to the Contractors' Registration & Licensing Coard (CRLB)

Attorney General Kilmartin’s office provides legal counsel to the Contractors’ Registration and Licensing Board (CRLB), which is under the aegis of the RI Department of Administration. The CRLB regulates the construction industry through registration requirements and conducts administrative hearings for individuals aggrieved by residential contractors. As legal counsel to the board, this office enables residential homeowners to avail themselves of the dispute-resolution process at the CRLB in lieu of pursuing a private action in court.

When a contractor fails to pay restitution to a homeowner as ordered by the CRLB, the Office of Attorney General plays an active role in enforcing compliance to ensure that homeowners have some measure of recourse. Through a cooperative partnership between our department’s Civil and Criminal Divisions, unscrupulous contractors can be criminally prosecuted in District Court. This process has a proven record of restoring money owed to homeowners and of keeping bad contractors from repeating their offenses.

In 2012 53 contractors were referred to the Attorney General’s Office for criminal prosecution. The final orders that these contractors failed to comply with added up to roughly $439,000 in restitution and approximately $675,000 in fines to the Board.

Additionally, in 2012, the CRLB Legal Counsel: obtained temporary restraining orders requiring that unregistered contractors who continued to victimize homeowners were restrained from working in the trade; acted as liaison between homeowner-victims and the criminal court’s probation system to ensure receipt of restitution and communication between parties; Served as legal counsel during Board meetings, providing the Board with advice and answering questions that arose; handled administrative appeals filed in Superior Court; and educated attorneys, contractors and homeowners alike on the CRLB administrative process and applicable laws through educational seminars and individualized meetings and/or outreach by phone.