Related but not identical. Rhode Island does not have a standalone public intoxication statute, but public intoxication that causes disturbance can support a disorderly conduct charge. Simply being drunk in public without causing disturbance is not generally criminal in Rhode Island. The charge requires the intoxication to result in behavior that affects others — loud arguments, fighting, blocking public access, or threatening conduct. Defense work in alcohol-related disorderly conduct cases often focuses on whether the defendant's conduct actually disturbed anyone or whether police escalated the situation through their response.
