---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- MOTOR VEHICLE OFFENSES (Decriminalizes second, third and subsequent violations of §31-27-2.1 in cases of refusal to submit to a blood test in light of recent precedent but would also set forth new civil penalties for second, third and subsequent violations.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- MOTOR VEHICLE OFFENSES (Decriminalizes second, third and subsequent violations of §31-27-2.1 in cases of refusal to submit to a blood test in light of recent precedent but would also set forth new civil penalties for second, third and subsequent violations.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 5520"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5520 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Attorney General", "DUI", "Civil Procedure", "Motor Vehicles"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Craven", "McEntee"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 16
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2017-02-15"
last_action: "2017-10-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/dcd07bbc-957a-496e-9a1e-3006a2adb7f8"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "bcefc76f62709dcaae49d9b4ed319dc0ceac8800dff9658c81560b9ae5e17c84"
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 5520 (2017) — AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- MOTOR VEHICLE OFFENSES (Decriminalizes second, third and subsequent violations of §31-27-2.1 in cases of refusal to submit to a blood test in light of recent precedent but would also set forth new civil penalties for second, third and subsequent violations.)

## Version chain

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

1. **5520 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText17/HouseText17/H5520A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **71–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Craven — primary (person)
- McEntee — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-02-15** 02/15/2017 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee, introduction`
- **2017-03-03** 03/03/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/08/2017)
- **2017-03-08** 03/08/2017 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2017-05-19** 05/19/2017 Scheduled for consideration (05/24/2017)
- **2017-05-24** 05/24/2017 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-02** 06/02/2017 Placed on House Calendar (06/08/2017)
- **2017-06-08** 06/08/2017 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2017-06-08** 06/08/2017 Referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-23** 06/23/2017 Scheduled for hearing (06/27/2017)
- **2017-06-27** 06/27/2017 Committee heard
- **2017-09-15** 09/15/2017 Scheduled for consideration (09/19/2017)
- **2017-09-19** 09/19/2017 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-09-19** 09/19/2017 Placed on Senate Calendar (09/19/2017)
- **2017-09-19** 09/19/2017 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2017-10-03** 10/03/2017 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-10-05** 10/05/2017 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/dcd07bbc-957a-496e-9a1e-3006a2adb7f8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).