---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMALS AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY (Takes away the discretion of the sentencing judge in cases involving persons convicted of, or who entered a plea of nolo contendere to any misdemeanor or felony under the provisions of state law relating to cruelty to animals.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMALS AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY (Takes away the discretion of the sentencing judge in cases involving persons convicted of, or who entered a plea of nolo contendere to any misdemeanor or felony under the provisions of state law relating to cruelty to animals.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2018"
identifier: "HB 8170"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 8170 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Animals", "Criminal Procedure"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Canario", "Hull", "Nardolillo", "Quattrocchi", "Shanley"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 13
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2018-05-04"
last_action: "2018-07-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e71c0d6e-a161-45ba-b3b9-0470dfa60025"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "4a02936dc9145001bb9c4841d2c0ede126d086dd9d8d176a9bde78e2d26f8f0c"
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 8170 (2018) — AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMALS AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY (Takes away the discretion of the sentencing judge in cases involving persons convicted of, or who entered a plea of nolo contendere to any misdemeanor or felony under the provisions of state law relating to cruelty to animals.)

## Version chain

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

1. **8170 as amended** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText18/HouseText18/H8170aa.pdf)

## Votes

- IN CONCURRENCE — **47–7** (pass) · lower
- PASSAGE — **64–8** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Canario — primary (person)
- Hull — primary (person)
- Nardolillo — primary (person)
- Quattrocchi — primary (person)
- Shanley — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-05-04** 05/04/2018 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2018-06-01** 06/01/2018 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (06/06/2018)
- **2018-06-06** 06/06/2018 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2018-06-16** 06/16/2018 Scheduled for consideration (06/19/2018)
- **2018-06-19** 06/19/2018 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-06-19** 06/19/2018 Placed on House Calendar (06/21/2018)
- **2018-06-21** 06/21/2018 House read and passed `passage`
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/23/2018)
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 Senate passed as amended (floor amendment) `passage`
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 Placed on House Calendar (06/23/2018)
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 House passed as amended in concurrence `passage`
- **2018-06-27** 06/27/2018 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2018-07-02** 07/02/2018 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/e71c0d6e-a161-45ba-b3b9-0470dfa60025`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).