State of Rhode Island, by and through Attorney General Peter Kilmartin v. Rhode Island Troopers Association

Justice Goldberg, for the Court.

This case of first impression is before the Supreme Court on appeal by the defendant, the Rhode Island Troopers Association (RITA), from a judgment granting declaratory and equitable relief in favor of the plaintiff, the State of Rhode Island (the state). The Superior Court declared that the Governmental Tort Liability Act, G.L. 1956 chapter 31 of title 9, vests the Attorney General with the nondelegable, nontransferable legal duty to determine whether the state should provide a defense and indemnification in a civil action brought against a state employee. The…