Thomas E. Noret
Deputy Majority Leader
First Vice Chair, House Conduct Committee
First Vice Chair, House Education Committee
Second Vice Chair, House Oversight Committee
Member, House Judiciary Committee
Thomas E. Noret (D) was first elected in November 2018 to
the seat in House District 25 in Coventry and West Warwick. A Deputy
Majority Leader, he is the first vice chair of both the House Education
Committee and the House Conduct Committee, and is the second vice chair of
the House Oversight Committee. Representative Noret is also a member of the
House Judiciary Committee.
During the 2024 session, Representative
Noret, a former police officer, introduced a new law that allows law
enforcement officers to utilize mufflers, silencers, or other devices for
deadening or muffling the sound of a firearm while acting within the scope
of their official duties as tactical teams and under the supervision of the
police chief.
The House passed his bill in 2024 that would have made
it a crime to threaten to take the life of, or to inflict bodily harm upon,
a public official or a member of their immediate family because of the
performance or nonperformance of some public duty.
In 2023, he
introduced a new law that offers
new training options for law enforcement officers in recognizing mental
health issues.
In 2022, he joined with his colleagues in sponsoring
legislation to address the
state's housing crisis, introducing a law that Requires Rhode Island
Housing to collect data on the number of Section 8 Housing Choice vouchers
which are received and utilized by each municipality, housing authorities,
and agencies. He also sponsored a new law that gives the Department of
Environmental Management the
authority to regulate the water level behind certain dams in the state.
He also introduced a new law that requires
annual weapons qualifications for correctional officers.
Also in
2022, he was chosen for the
Emerging Leaders Program sponsored by the State Legislative Leaders
Foundation, which cultivates the next generation of leaders in state
legislatures who are serving in ether their first or second term.
During the 2021 legislative session, Representative Noret co-sponsored a
number of child protection bills, including new laws that put an end to
child marriages, terminate the parental rights of convicted rapists,
raise the age to buy tobacco to 21, and outlaw child erotica.
Representative Noret served in the Rhode Island Air National Guard, 143rd
Airlift Wing from 1990 to 1994. While serving, Representative Noret accepted
a position with the Coventry Police Department where he served his community
for 20 years, retiring in 2012.
After retirement, he accepted a
position as a Tax Investigator with the Rhode Island Division of Taxation's
Special Investigation Unit. Most recently, he was employed by the Greater
Providence YMCA as the executive director of the South County branch.
He graduated from Bishop Hendricken High School in 1987. He earned an
associate's degree in business and law enforcement from the Community
College of Rhode Island in 1991 and a bachelor's degree in criminal justice
from Roger Williams University in 2006.
Noret and his family are
members of the St. Anthony Parish in West Warwick. He has also spent several
years coaching in the West Warwick Basketball League. He is a member of Club
Frontenac and of American Legion, Post 2. Born January 21, 1969, he and his
wife Julie Aimee (Landroche) Noret have two daughters, Addison and Robbie.