---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC RECORDS - ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS (Excludes preliminary drafts, notes, impressions, memoranda, working papers and work products involving research at state institutions of higher learning from the definition of a public record.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC RECORDS - ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS (Excludes preliminary drafts, notes, impressions, memoranda, working papers and work products involving research at state institutions of higher learning from the definition of a public record.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 5098"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5098 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Public Records", "Education"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Craven", "McEntee", "McKiernan", "O'Brien", "Ruggiero"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 16
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2017-01-12"
last_action: "2017-06-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4056bc09-2415-486b-b105-8b01f73d1227"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "0c66ae7c2768d8334370665fa5234b752f35aa16b9dbd4659f83ebd9d7c70884"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 5098 (2017) — AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC RECORDS - ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS (Excludes preliminary drafts, notes, impressions, memoranda, working papers and work products involving research at state institutions of higher learning from the definition of a public record.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **5098** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText17/HouseText17/H5098.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **59–8** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Craven — primary (person)
- McEntee — primary (person)
- McKiernan — primary (person)
- O'Brien — primary (person)
- Ruggiero — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-12** 01/12/2017 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee, introduction`
- **2017-01-13** 01/13/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (01/18/2017)
- **2017-01-18** 01/18/2017 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2017-01-20** 01/20/2017 Scheduled for consideration (01/24/2017)
- **2017-01-24** 01/24/2017 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-01-27** 01/27/2017 Placed on House Calendar (01/31/2017)
- **2017-01-31** 01/31/2017 House read and passed `passage`
- **2017-02-02** 02/02/2017 Referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-10** 02/10/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (02/14/2017)
- **2017-02-14** 02/14/2017 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2017-06-02** 06/02/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (06/08/2017)
- **2017-06-08** 06/08/2017 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-20** 06/20/2017 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/21/2017)
- **2017-06-21** 06/21/2017 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2017-06-21** 06/21/2017 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-06-27** 06/27/2017 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4056bc09-2415-486b-b105-8b01f73d1227`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).