2012 Rhode Island General Laws
Title 12 - Criminal Procedure
Chapter 12-5 - Search Warrants
Chapter 12-5-2 - Grounds for issuance.

§ 12-5-2 Grounds for issuance. – A warrant may be issued under this chapter to search for and seize any of the following:

(1) Property stolen or embezzled, or obtained by any false pretense, or pretenses, with intent to cheat or defraud within this state, or elsewhere;

(2) Property kept, suffered to be kept, concealed, deposited, or possessed in violation of law, or for the purpose of violating the law;

(3) Property designed or intended for use, or which is or has been used, in violation of law, or as a means of committing a violation of law;

(4) Property which is evidence of the commission of a crime; or

(5) Samples of blood, saliva, hair, bodily tissues, bodily fluids, or dental impressions from the body of a person, that may yield evidence of the identity of the perpetrator of a crime when subjected to scientific or other forensic analysis. The foregoing samples, and the results of any scientific or other forensic analysis, shall be admissible in all criminal proceedings, subject to application of the rules of evidence and criminal procedure. When any of the foregoing samples are seized for scientific or forensic analysis, the seizure shall be conducted in accordance with the regulations, guidelines, or protocols of the department of health or the state crime laboratory, as may be appropriate under the circumstances; or

(6) Samples of blood or breath that may yield evidence of the presence of alcohol or a controlled substance when subjected to a chemical test, as contemplated in § 31-27-2. When any of the foregoing samples are seized for purposes of performing the aforementioned chemical test, the seizure shall be conducted in accordance with the regulations of the department of health that apply to the consensual collection of such a sample for purposes of the chemical test contemplated by Rhode Island general laws § 31-27-2.

History of Section.
(C.P.A. 1905, § 178; G.L. 1909, ch. 281, § 31; P.L. 1915, ch. 1258, § 1; G.L. 1923, ch. 331, § 31; G.L. 1938, ch. 501, § 31; G.L. 1956, § 12-5-1; G.L., § 12-5-2, as enacted by P.L. 1965, ch. 168, § 1; P.L. 1972, ch. 169, § 13; P.L. 2004, ch. 441, § 1; P.L. 2004, ch. 493, § 1; P.L. 2009, ch. 210, § 1; P.L. 2009, ch. 211, § 1.)