§ 5-24-1. Licensing and regulatory power of towns and cities. (a) Any town or city council has the power to regulate, including the setting of hours of operation, the keeping of taverns, victualing houses, cookshops, oyster houses, and oyster cellars in the town or city, by granting licenses for those activities, upon any compensation for the benefit of the town or city that they see fit to impose, or by refusing to grant the licenses. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, all licenses issued pursuant to this section entitle the license holder to operate continuously after six o'clock (6:00) A.M. but not after two o'clock (2:00) A.M.

(b) Upon application by any holder of a license issued pursuant to this section to the city or town council issuing that license and upon a showing of public convenience and necessity after a public hearing before that city or town council after having given notice by publication once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a daily or weekly newspaper published and circulated in the county in which the city or town issuing the license is located, the council may grant the application for additional operational hours between two o'clock (2:00) A.M. and six o'clock (6:00) A.M.

(c) For the purposes of this chapter a "victualing house" is a business where food is prepared and/or consumed on the premises.

History of Section. (G.L. 1896, ch. 101, § 1; G.L. 1909, ch. 122, § 1; G.L. 1923, ch. 126, § 1; G.L. 1938, ch. 361, § 1; G.L. 1956, § 5-24-1; P.L. 1969, ch. 249, § 1; P.L. 1975, ch. 212, § 1; P.L. 1987, ch. 149, § 1; P.L. 1987, ch. 160, § 1; P.L. 1987, ch. 207, § 1.)