R.I. Gen. Laws § 10-5-6

At the commencement of a civil action sounding in tort against a nonresident having property within the state, a writ of attachment may be issued from the superior court or any district court wherever the plaintiff in the action, his or her agent or attorney, shall make affidavit, to be endorsed thereon or annexed thereto, that the defendant is a nonresident, and that the plaintiff has a just cause of action against the defendant, upon which the plaintiff expects to recover a sum sufficient to give jurisdiction to the court to which the writ is returnable.