---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- SEXUAL ASSAULT (Eliminates the marital sexual assault exception when a victim is incapacitated, disabled, or helpless.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- SEXUAL ASSAULT (Eliminates the marital sexual assault exception when a victim is incapacitated, disabled, or helpless.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 834"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 834 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Criminal Offense", "Developmentally Disabled", "Domestic Relations", "Handicapped", "Sexual Assault"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Cano", "Coyne", "DiMario", "Euer", "Gallo", "Goodwin", "Lawson", "McCaffrey", "Sosnowski", "Valverde"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-04-23"
last_action: "2021-06-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cdd64438-392c-4ab1-80ee-eb8c94ba2755"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "e674af87f35efc52eac0195de13aa48560f569a5c676ddb2c4183aac4b51a867"
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 SB 834 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- SEXUAL ASSAULT (Eliminates the marital sexual assault exception when a victim is incapacitated, disabled, or helpless.)

## Version chain

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

1. **834** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/SenateText21/S0834.pdf)

## Votes

- Passage — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- IN CONCURRENCE — **71–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Cano — primary (person)
- Coyne — primary (person)
- DiMario — primary (person)
- Euer — primary (person)
- Gallo — primary (person)
- Goodwin — primary (person)
- Lawson — primary (person)
- McCaffrey — primary (person)
- Sosnowski — primary (person)
- Valverde — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-04-23** 04/23/2021 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-05-07** 05/07/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (05/13/2021)
- **2021-05-13** 05/13/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-06-04** 06/04/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/08/2021)
- **2021-06-08** 06/08/2021 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-09** 06/09/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/15/2021)
- **2021-06-15** 06/15/2021 Senate read and passed `passage`
- **2021-06-16** 06/16/2021 Referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-16** 06/16/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/18/2021)
- **2021-06-18** 06/18/2021 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-18** 06/18/2021 Placed on House Calendar (06/22/2021)
- **2021-06-22** 06/22/2021 House passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-06-23** 06/23/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-06-23** 06/23/2021 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/cdd64438-392c-4ab1-80ee-eb8c94ba2755`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).