Rhode Island District Court Execution Forms and Rule 6.02

The Form Problem

You have a Rhode Island small claims judgment. You know you need to enforce it. But when you visit the District Court website or walk into the clerk's office, you encounter a stack of forms with no obvious labels telling you which one does what. The clerk hands you blank documents but cannot advise you on which to use — by court rules, clerks are legally prohibited from giving legal advice, selecting enforcement tools, or helping fill out forms.

District Court Rule of Small Claims Procedure 6.02 lists the District Court forms and writs that may be used in a small claims action without adaptation. District Court Civil Rule 69 governs execution, supplementary proceedings, attachment and trustee process after judgment, and wage attachment.

The Core Forms

Each enforcement action maps to a specific District Court form. Here is how they break down:

Writ of Execution (General). This is the foundational enforcement document. It authorizes a deputy sheriff or DBR-licensed constable to demand payment from the debtor and, if the debtor does not pay, to seize non-exempt assets. You apply for the writ through the District Court Clerk in the division where your judgment was entered. The issuance fee is $40 under R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-29-1(a)(3).

Citation in Supplementary Proceedings. Under R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 9-28-3 and 9-28-4, after execution is returned wholly or partly unsatisfied, a citation requires the debtor to contact the creditor within 25 days after receipt to establish a payment agreement. If the debtor does not, the creditor may ask the District Court clerk to send a hearing notice; at that hearing, the debtor must appear to show cause why an examination and an order requiring full or installment payments should not be entered. The citation may be requested as a standalone application or placed on the same form as the Writ of Execution under District Court Civil Rule 69; the combined citation takes effect if the debtor fails to satisfy the officer’s demand.

Writ of Attachment — Trustee Process (Bank Accounts). This form directs a third-party financial institution (the "trustee") to freeze the debtor's accounts up to the judgment amount. The bank must preserve the first $500 in deposits (exempt under R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-26-4(18)) and freeze only funds above that threshold. After the bank files its Trustee Answer with the court, you apply for a Turnover Order directing the bank to remit the frozen funds.

Wage Attachment. This form directs the debtor's employer to withhold a portion of disposable earnings each pay period. Federal law caps the withholding at the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount exceeding 30 times the federal minimum wage ($217.50 per week). Rhode Island adds a complete prohibition on wage garnishment for medical debt judgments under R.I. Gen. Laws § 10-5-8.

Filing and Service

All formal court filings go through the Rhode Island Judiciary Electronic Filing System (Tyler File & Serve) under Rules 1.02 and 1.05. Self-represented litigants can submit paper filings at the clerk's counter, where staff scan documents into the Case Management System.

Once the clerk issues a writ, you retrieve it through the Public Access Portal (re:Search) and deliver it to an authorized officer for service. Only two categories of officer can execute civil process in Rhode Island: deputy sheriffs from the Division of Sheriffs and constables licensed by the Department of Business Regulation. Local police departments do not have authority to serve execution writs.

Choosing the Right Form

The form you need depends on what you know about the debtor's assets:

If you do not know what the debtor owns or earns, start with the Citation in Supplementary Proceedings. The debtor examination will reveal their financial picture, and you can select the right execution tool afterward.

If you know the debtor has a bank account at a specific institution, file for trustee process to attach the account directly.

If you know the debtor is employed and the judgment is not based on medical debt, file a wage attachment directed at their employer.

If you know the debtor owns specific personal property with clear equity (a paid-off vehicle, business equipment), file a general Writ of Execution for personal property levy.

If you want to place a lien on real estate, obtain a Writ of Execution and record it in the municipal Land Evidence Records where the property is located.

Costs Add Up

Each form carries its own fees. The writ issuance is $40. Officer service is $70 per writ served under R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-29-9. Electronic filing adds a $17.50 Tyler processing fee and a $3.25 technology surcharge. These costs are recoverable — they get added to the judgment debt balance — but you pay them upfront.

For a step-by-step walkthrough matching each enforcement tool to its exact form, fee, and officer hand-off, the Rhode Island Small Claims Judgment Collection Guide includes a complete tool-to-form execution matrix.

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