R.I. Gen. Laws § 22-7-5: Adjustment and compromise of claims.

It shall be the further duty of the joint committee to exhaust all possibility of adjustment and compromise of valid claims before hearing on them. To this end, the claimant on the one hand and the state, acting through the department, division, bureau, or other state agency having immediate charge of the subject matter of the claim, on the other hand may stipulate and agree upon the amount and manner of making final disposition of the claim. The stipulation and agreement may, but need not, be adopted by the joint committee as its findings and its determination of the claim.