There shall be a department of records which shall consist of the city clerk who shall be ex officio clerk of the probate court and register of deeds, the judge of probate and of such other employees as may be provided by ordinance. The city clerk who holds office upon the adoption of this amendment shall remain in office for the indefinite term the clerk was appointed; thereafter, the city clerk shall be chosen by the city council for a term of four years commencing on the first Monday in January following each general election. The city clerk shall appoint and remove, subject to the provisions of chapter 14, a clerk of committees and all other employees of the department except the judge of probate. The city clerk shall be a person of such private business or governmental experience as to qualify that person for the control and supervision of record keeping and clerical services. The city clerk shall receive in lieu of all fees an annual salary to be fixed by ordinance and shall have the following powers and duties:
(a) 
To serve as clerk of the council and as such to attend personally or by deputy all meetings of the council and of its committees, to keep an accurate record of its proceedings and to perform such other duties as are assigned to the clerk by chapter 3 or may be prescribed by ordinance.
(b) 
To serve as clerk of the probate court and to perform in that capacity such duties as may be prescribed by law.
(c) 
To perform the duties required by law of registers of deeds.
(d) 
To issue such licenses as the city clerk may be required to do by law or ordinance in accordance with the terms thereof.
(e) 
To collect all fees legally payable to the city clerk, or through the city clerk's office, keep an accurate account of the same in the form prescribed by the director of finance and deliver all moneys so received to the city treasurer at the times specified by the director of finance.
(Res. No. 73-122, 6/25/1973, § 19, approved at referendum 8/7/1973; approved at referendum 11/3/1998)
The judge of probate shall continue to be chosen by the council for a term of two years from the first Monday in January following each council election. The probate judge shall be a qualified elector of the State of Rhode Island, an attorney at law admitted to practice in the courts of Rhode Island, and shall at the time of the probate judge's appointment have so practiced for five years. The probate judge shall have all the powers and duties prescribed for judges of probate by the laws of the state. The probate judge shall receive an annual salary to be fixed by ordinance in lieu of all fees and fees payable in the probate court shall be received by the city clerk as clerk of such court and accounted for and delivered as above provided. In the case of absence or incapacity of the judge of probate the municipal court judge shall sit as judge of probate. In the case of the absence or incapacity of the judge of probate and the absence or incapacity of the judge of the municipal court judge the Cranston auxiliary judge shall sit as judge of probate.
(Approved at referendum 11/3/1998; Res. No. 2024-5, 2/26/2024)