Florida Court Administrator Matthew L. Benefiel receives NCSC Distinguished Service Award

Florida Court Administrator Matthew L. Benefiel receives NCSC Distinguished Service Award

Williamsburg, Va. (March 24, 2014) –  Matthew L. Benefiel, Court Administrator of the 9th Circuit in Orange County, Florida, is the recipient of the National Center for State Courts’ 2014 Distinguished Service Award, one of the highest awards presented by the organization. The Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to those who have made significant contributions to the justice system and who have supported the mission of NCSC.

“Matthew Benefiel is a driving force in court innovation,” NCSC President Mary McQueen says. “Benefiel helped the National Center develop court, state and national models for Virtual Remote Interpreting. His efforts advanced the interpreting field to a new level.”

The Ninth Circuit Court launched its Remote Court Interpreting Program in 2007. Since then, Benefiel has made presentations on remote interpreting for the Conference of State Court Administrators, National Association for Court Management and  the National Summit on Language Access in the Courts, to name a few.

The Ninth Circuit has won several awards for this program: the 2012 Government Computer News Outstanding Information Technology Achievement in Government Award; the 2012 Digital Government Achievement Award; and a 2012 Harvard Kennedy School – Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation Award.

Prior to his position as Trial Court Administrator, Benefiel was circuit court administrator for the 2nd Judicial District of Virginia from 1987-1996. He received a Master’s Degree in Judicial Administration from the University of Southern California in 1988.

The National Center for State Courts, headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a nonprofit court organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to the state courts. Founded in 1971 by the Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, NCSC provides education, training, technology, management, and research services to the nation’s state courts.