Year Honored: 2005

Birth: 1957

Biography

Patricia W. Griffin was the first woman to be appointed State Court Administer, the top administrative post within the Delaware Court System, in 2004. Prior to that, she had served as Chief Magistrate from 1993-2004. In that role, she was responsible for the administration of the Justice of the Peace Court, legal education, and the guidance of 60 Justices of the Peace. She also successfully initiated the Justice of the Peace Court 20 Project, a pilot program that reduced the caseload of the Court of Common Pleas by extending the services of a Deputy Attorney General and Public Defender to the Justice of the Peace Court. She also initiated the development of the Justice of the Peace Videophone Court which provides more rapid access to a judge.

Griffin also worked with the Truancy Court to combine “the enforcement powers of the court with the innovative provision of social services to students and families to improve school attendance, strengthen families, and prevent delinquency.” The program she initiated won Program of the Year Award from the International Association for Truancy and Dropout Prevention (2003) and the Crystal Star Award of Excellence from the National Dropout Prevention Network (2004).

For her work, Griffin has also received the Chief Justice’s Outstanding Judicial Service Award (1998) for heading the committee that evaluated court administration and technology; and the Person of the Year Award (2004) by the International Association for Truancy and Dropout Prevention, for establishing and shepherding the development of the award-wining Truancy Court.
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Sources and Additional Readings

Delaware Commission for Women. (2006). Twenty-Fifth Anniversary: Hall of Fame of Delaware Women: The Legacy Endures.