The probate court shall ascertain the expenses occasioned by commitment as provided in § 8-9-18, and the executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, or custodian of the estate shall pay the expenses; and if the party paying the expenses shall afterwards recover judgment against the person committed, for any property withheld by him or her belonging to the estate, those expenses, as ascertained by the probate court, shall be taxed as part of the costs of the suit; or if the person after being imprisoned shall, without suit, surrender any effects belonging to the estate withheld by him or her, the executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, or custodian may recover from him or her the amount of the expenses.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-9-19