R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 6-13.1 § 6-13.1-7

(a) When it appears to the attorney general that a person has engaged in, is engaging
in, or is about to engage in, any act or practice declared to be unlawful by this
chapter, or when the attorney general believes it to be in the public interest that
an investigation should be made to ascertain whether a person in fact has engaged
in, is engaging in, or is about to engage in, any act or practice declared to be unlawful
by this chapter, he or she may execute, in writing, and cause to be served upon any
person who is believed to have information, documentary material, or physical evidence
relevant to the alleged or suspected violation, an investigative demand stating the
general subject matter of the investigation and the statute and section under which
the suspected violation is alleged and require the person to furnish, under oath or
otherwise, a report in writing stating the relevant facts and circumstances of which
the person has knowledge, or to appear and testify or to produce relevant, documentary
material or physical evidence for examination, at any reasonable time and place that
may be stated in the investigative demand, concerning the advertisement, sale, or
offering for sale of any goods or services or the conduct of any trade or commerce
that is the subject matter of the investigation. All civil investigative demands may,
at the discretion of the attorney general, be filed in the superior court of the county
in which the person served with the demand shall dwell or have his principal place
of business.


(b) At any time before the return date specified in an investigative demand, or within
twenty (20) days after the demand has been served, whichever period is shorter, a
petition to extend the return date or to modify or set aside the demand, stating good
cause, may be filed in the superior court in which the person served with the demand
shall dwell or have his or her principal place of business, or in the superior court
of Providence County.


(c) To accomplish the objectives and to carry out the duties prescribed by this chapter,
the attorney general, in addition to other powers conferred upon him or her by this
chapter, may issue subpoenas to any person; administer an oath or affirmation to any
person; conduct hearings in aid of any investigation or inquiry; and prescribe any
forms and promulgate any rules and regulations that may be necessary, which rules
and regulations shall have the force of law; provided that none of the powers conferred
by this chapter shall be used for the purpose of compelling any natural person to
furnish testimony or evidence that might tend to incriminate the person or subject
him or her to a penalty or forfeiture; and provided further that information obtained
pursuant to the powers conferred by this chapter shall not be made public or disclosed
by the attorney general or his or her employees beyond the extent necessary for law
enforcement purposes in the public interest.


(d) Service of any notice, demand, or subpoena under this chapter shall be made personally
within this state, but if personal service cannot be obtained, substituted service
may be made in the following manner:


(1) Personal service without this state;


(2) The mailing of any notice, demand, or subpoena under this chapter by registered or
certified mail to the last known place of business, residence, or abode within or
without this state of the person for whom the service is intended;


(3) As to any person other than a natural person, in the manner provided in the rules
of civil procedure as if a complaint or other pleading that institutes a civil proceeding
had been filed; or


(4) Service that the superior court may direct in lieu of personal service within this
state.


(e) A person upon whom a demand is served pursuant to the provisions of this section shall
comply with the terms of the demand unless otherwise provided by order of court. Subject
to the protections provided for in subsection (c) relating to self incrimination,
any person who, with intent to avoid, evade, or prevent compliance, in whole or in
part, with any civil investigative demand under this section, removes from any place,
conceals, withholds, or destroys, mutilates, alters, or by any other means falsifies
any documentary material in the possession, custody, or control of any person subject
of any demand, or knowingly conceals any relevant information, shall be fined not
more than five thousand dollars ($5,000).


(f) If any person fails or refuses to file any statement or report, or obey any subpoena
or investigative demand issued by the attorney general, the attorney general may file
in the superior court of the county in which the person shall dwell or be found; or
has his or her principal place of business; or of Providence County, if the superior
court at the previously mentioned county shall not be in session, or if the person
is a nonresident or has no principal place of business in this state; or of the other
county as may be agreed upon by the parties to the petition; and serve upon the person
a petition for an order of the court for the enforcement of this section, and the
petition may request, and the court shall have jurisdiction to grant, after notice
and a hearing, an order:


(1) Granting injunctive relief to restrain the person from engaging in the advertising
or sale of any merchandise, or the conduct of any trade or commerce, that is involved
in the alleged or suspected violation;


(2) Vacating, annulling, or suspending the corporate charter of a corporation created
by or under the laws of this state or revoking or suspending the certificate of authority
to do business in this state of a foreign corporation or revoking or suspending any
other licenses, permits, or certificates issued pursuant to law to the person that
are used to further the allegedly unlawful practice; and


(3) Granting any other relief that may be required, until the person files the statement
or report, or obeys the subpoena or investigative demand.


(g) Any final order so entered shall be subject to appeal to the state supreme court.
Any disobedience of any final order entered under this section by any court shall
be punished as a contempt of court.