R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-4-2
If the complainant shall then, before the judge or justice of the peace, enter into a recognizance in a sum not exceeding fifty dollars ($50.00), and with this surety, as the judge or justice of the peace shall direct and approve, with condition to prosecute the complaint with effect, or in default of prosecution to pay the costs that may accrue to the state, the judge or justice of the peace shall issue a warrant returnable immediately, annexing to the warrant the complaint, or reciting its substance in it, directed to the sheriff, deputy sheriffs, town sergeants, and town constables in the county in which the division is, and to the like officers in the county in which the accused may be supposed to belong, reside, or be found, and requiring the officer who shall be charged with the service of the warrant immediately to apprehend the accused and have him or her before the district court for the division in which the offense shall be alleged to have been committed.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-4-2