Newport County
Located in the southeastern region of Rhode Island, Newport County was created in 1703 and named after Newport, Essex, in the United Kingdom. It has a population of over 85,000 and a land area of 102 square miles. The City of Newport is its largest city and hosts the county courts. As with all counties in Rhode Island, county administration has been abolished.
The court system in Newport County comprises Superior, District, Family, Probate, and Municipal courts. The Newport County Superior Court has general jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases. It handles all felonies, certain misdemeanors, appeals from the lower courts, and civil cases with claims over $10,000 and shares jurisdiction with the District Court over civil cases with claims between $5,000 and $10,000. It also hears disputes over rights and titles to real estate, probate matters, and civil equity cases. The Newport County District Court hears municipal ordinance offenses, misdemeanors, and civil cases with claims under $5,000 but has concurrent jurisdiction with the Superior Court over civil cases with claims between $5,000 and $10,000. It also handles protective orders, administrative agency appeals, and involuntary hospitalizations.
The Newport County Family Court has jurisdiction over domestic relations and juvenile matters, including divorce, annulment, legal separation, child custody, child abuse, juvenile delinquency, alimony, adoptions, and paternity. All probate matters such as wills, trusts, estates, guardianships, and conservatorships are heard by the Newport County Probate Court. The six Probate Courts in the county are located in Tiverton, Newport, Portsmouth, Little Compton, Middletown, and Jamestown. Municipal courts in Newport County handle municipal ordinance violations and traffic offenses. The three municipal courts in the county are in Middletown, Tiverton, and Newport.
In Newport County, public court records are documents and files in texts, audio, and video forms generated in the county's courts and are available to the public. These records include court filings, court schedules, writs, warrants, court proceedings, depositions, court transcripts, motions, orders, sentences, and court rulings. Court records are prepared, arranged, indexed, and stored by court clerks. The Newport County Clerk maintains court records from the county courts, while municipal court clerks keep those from municipal courts.
The public in Newport County has access to the following types of court records unless they are made confidential by court orders:
- Criminal Records
- Domestic Relations Records
- Traffic Records
- Civil Records
- Probate Records
Record seekers in Newport County can visit the courts to view and request their public court records. They can also access public court records from Newport County through the Rhode Island Judiciary Public Portal.
