---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (Creates an action authorizing any person who has been sentenced to imprisonment greater than one year subsequent to being wrongfully convicted of a criminal offense to petition court for an award of compensation and damages, including attorney’s fees.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (Creates an action authorizing any person who has been sentenced to imprisonment greater than one year subsequent to being wrongfully convicted of a criminal offense to petition court for an award of compensation and damages, including attorney’s fees.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 5470"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5470 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Correctional Institutions", "Courts", "Criminal Offense", "Criminal Procedure", "Fees"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ackerman", "Amore", "McEntee", "Nardone", "Place", "Serpa"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 17
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-02-10"
last_action: "2021-07-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0fe716a3-ae77-4a84-8b30-6e69bff45553"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "8ee9e67aa0feae000548549e296b9c933abafe4115bba2ee57f9c199bd965556"
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 5470 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (Creates an action authorizing any person who has been sentenced to imprisonment greater than one year subsequent to being wrongfully convicted of a criminal offense to petition court for an award of compensation and damages, including attorney’s fees.)

## Version chain

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

1. **5470 SUB B** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/HouseText21/H5470B.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **73–0** (pass) · lower
- IN CONCURRENCE — **69–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Ackerman — primary (person)
- Amore — primary (person)
- McEntee — primary (person)
- Nardone — primary (person)
- Place — primary (person)
- Serpa — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-10** 02/10/2021 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-05** 03/05/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/09/2021)
- **2021-03-09** 03/09/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-03-12** 03/12/2021 Scheduled for consideration (03/17/2021)
- **2021-03-17** 03/17/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-26** 03/26/2021 Placed on House Calendar (03/30/2021)
- **2021-03-30** 03/30/2021 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2021-04-08** 04/08/2021 Referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-25** 06/25/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/28/2021)
- **2021-06-26** 06/26/2021 Proposed Substitute
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub B `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/30/2021)
- **2021-06-30** 06/30/2021 Senate passed Sub B `passage`
- **2021-06-30** 06/30/2021 Placed on House Calendar (07/01/2021)
- **2021-07-01** 07/01/2021 House passed Sub B in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-07-06** 07/06/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-08** 07/08/2021 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/0fe716a3-ae77-4a84-8b30-6e69bff45553`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).