R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-2-15
At the time mentioned in the notice given under the authority of § 46-2-14, or at such adjournment from that time as the court shall order, the court shall appoint three (3) suitable persons to be commissioners to appraise the damages sustained by any person whose property, estate, or rights of property shall have been taken for either or any of the purposes authorized in § 46-2-12; the commissioners, after being duly sworn to the faithful discharge of their trust and giving due notice to the parties in interest, shall proceed to hear the parties with their allegations and proofs, and to examine the premises, and shall make up and return their award in the premises to the clerk of the superior court from which they received their appointment, with their fees marked thereon, which fees, being first allowed by the court, shall be forthwith paid by the town or city taking the property, estate, or rights of property embraced in the award.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-2-15