Local News
Devon Flanagan had been on unpaid leave since August, when she pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor trespassing charge.
Rhode Island Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan is seen on police body-worn camera video on Aug. 14 in Newport. Newport Police Department
March 2, 2026 | 11:55 AM
2 minutes to read
A Rhode Island state prosecutor is back at work months after she was caught on video invoking her title and telling a police officer he would “regret” arresting her in Newport last summer.
Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan had been on unpaid leave since August, when she pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor trespassing charge in an incident outside the Clarke Cooke House.
A spokesperson for the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office confirmed Flanagan — whose full name is Devon Flanagan Hogan — had returned to work as of last week. She has been reassigned from the Appellate Unit of the Criminal Division to the Providence County Superior Court daily calendar.
State payroll records indicate Flanagan has an annual salary of about $117,000.
Newport police arrested Flanagan and her friend, Veronica Hannan, after responding to a call about an “unwanted party” at 24 Bannister’s Wharf, the Clarke Cooke House restaurant, on Aug. 14. Police body-worn camera footage captured the arrests, during which Flanagan repeatedly told officers, “I’m an AG.”
“I want you to turn your bodycam off,” Flanagan also says in the video. “Protocol is that you turn it off if a citizen requests … to turn it off.” The attorney general’s office later clarified that police body-worn cameras can be turned off at an officer’s discretion upon the request of a victim or witness.
In pleading no contest, Flanagan was given a six-month filing, meaning the case could be dismissed if she stayed out of trouble. She was ordered to stay away from the Clarke Cooke House.
Hannan pleaded no contest to a charge of resisting arrest, and prosecutors dropped her two other counts of disorderly conduct and willful trespassing. Like Flanagan, she was ordered to stay away from the restaurant and was given a six-month filing.
In August, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha publicly denounced Flanagan’s actions and said the prosecutor “mistreated the Newport Police Department and embarrassed herself, the Office, and frankly me.”
Neronha also said he hoped Flanagan would use her unpaid leave to reflect on her actions and take steps to better herself.
“She has a long road ahead of her, but I believe that in the long run, our worst moments can inspire us to become better people,” he added.
Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.
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