Rule 4 - Disciplinary Board of this Court(a) This Court shall appoint a board to be known as "The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island" (hereinafter referred to as "The Board") which shall consist of eight (8) members of the bar and four (4) members of the general public, who shall not be attorneys or hold public office. The Court shall designate one (1) member of the Board as chairperson and another as vice-chairperson.(b) The terms of the public members of the Disciplinary Board shall commence on May 1, 1993. Initially, two (2) public members shall be appointed for a term of three (3) years; one (1) public member shall be appointed for a term of two (2) years; and one (1) public member shall be appointed for a term of one (1) year. The terms of present members of the Disciplinary Board at the time of the adoption of this Rule shall remain in accordance with previous order of this Court. All terms thereafter shall be for three (3) years, and no member shall serve for more than six (6) years.(c) Seven (7) members shall constitute a quorum. The Board shall act only with the concurrence of not less than seven (7) members, provided, however, that a single attorney Board member or a retired judge or justice of the Supreme, Superior, Family, District or Workers' Compensation Courts drawn from a panel established by this Court, may conduct a formal hearing as provided for in Rule 6(b).(d) The Board shall have the power and duty: (1) to consider and cause to be investigated the conduct of any attorney on its own motion or upon complaint in writing by any person or as directed by this Court;(2) to review the findings and recommendations of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel, hereinafter referred to, with respect to formal charges and to prepare and forward its own findings and recommendations to this Court, which shall review such findings and recommendations on the basis of the record and shall enter an appropriate order disposing of the proceeding;(3) to consider and cause to be investigated information that an attorney is incapacitated from continuing the practice of law by reason of mental infirmity or illness or because of addiction to drugs or intoxicants, and to petition this Court for a determination when deemed advisable;(4) to adopt rules of procedure not inconsistent with these rules and to refer to the Rhode Island Bar Association Committee on Fee Disputes the arbitration of fee disputes, upon complaints of clients against their attorneys which apparently do not involve violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct;(5) to maintain records of all matters processed and the disposition thereof, subject to the following provisions: (i) All files relating to a complaint terminated by a dismissal or by dismissal with a letter of suggestion shall be expunged from the files of the Disciplinary Board after the expiration of seven (7) years from the date of the dismissal;(ii) All files relating to a complaint terminated by a dismissal with a letter of admonition shall be expunged from the files of the Disciplinary Board after the expiration of ten (10) years, so long as there has been no intervening disciplinary action taken with reference to the attorney and there is no complaint then pending against the attorney;(iii) Upon written application to the Board, for good cause shown and with written notice to the attorney in question, who shall be given an opportunity to be heard, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel may request that records which would otherwise be expunged under this Rule, be retained for such additional periods of time as the Board deems appropriate. The Office of Disciplinary Counsel may seek further extensions of the period for which retention of the records is authorized whenever a previous application has been granted;(iv) The term expunge shall mean that all files or other evidence of the existence of the complaint shall be destroyed, except that the Disciplinary Board may keep a docket showing the names of each respondent and complainant, the final disposition, and the date all files relating to the matter were expunged; and,(v) After a disciplinary file has been expunged, any communication from the Disciplinary Board or Disciplinary Counsel responding to an inquiry regarding the existence of any disciplinary history of an attorney shall not disclose the existence of any expunged record.(6) to communicate with respondent-attorneys, including calling such attorneys before the Board, for the purpose of clarifying or explaining provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct and the disciplinary rules of the Supreme Court and to instruct and direct such respondent-attorneys to comply with such provisions and to admonish respondent-attorneys in connection therewith;(7) To issue letters of reprimand to respondent-attorneys who have been found to have violated the Rules of Professional Conduct, provided however, such letters of reprimand shall not be issued where the respondent-attorney has been admonished by the Board for similar conduct in the past or where the alleged conduct reflects adversely on the attorney's honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer.As amended by the Court on 5/11/1993; 2/3/2000; Revised 11/1/2023.