R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-22-5
Every person claiming an appeal from a sentence of the district court who shall fail to enter into a recognizance in the court or in the office of the clerk of the court appealed from shall upon sentence immediately be committed to the penal institution as sentenced, there to remain until he or she enters into a recognizance as provided in this chapter or is discharged pursuant to law; provided, that in the counties of Newport and Washington any person before removal from the county or division in which sentence is entered may claim an appeal from the sentence of the district court to the superior court by claiming the appeal and entering into recognizance in like manner as required by law before the clerk of the court appealed from, or at the adult correctional institutions, before the clerk of the court from which the appeal is taken, or before any of the persons authorized by law to take bail. Whenever an appellant has earned by labor at any penal institution a sum equal to the amount of the fine and costs in the case in which he or she was committed, including all costs accruing at that institution, and has served the full term of imprisonment for which he or she was sentenced, the warden or other person having charge of the institution shall apply with the consent of the appellant the amount so earned by him or her to the settlement of the fines and costs, and the appellant shall then be discharged.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-22-5