R.I. Gen. Laws § 10-13-26: Adjournment of hearings.

Any judge of the district court, who shall be present at the time and place to which any citation in behalf of any poor prisoner, issued under the provisions of this chapter, shall be duly returned, may, in the absence of another magistrate, adjourn the hearing thereon to any other time or place, as he or she may think proper, with the same effect as if another judge were present.