Class of 2019 Vice President’s Award of Merit for Applied Research
Laura G. Griffin
Each year, the Vice President of ICM presents the Award of Merit for Applied Research to the ICM Fellows Program graduate who has completed the most outstanding court improvement project. The 2019recipient is Laura G. Griffin, Clerk of Court with the Chesterfield Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court in Chesterfield, Virginia. NCSC’s Lydia Hamblin, a Court Research Associate with the Research Division, provided guidance to Mrs. Griffin as her Project Supervisor.
Mrs. Griffin’s paper, “Ensuring Classification and Compensation Parity in Virginia’s District Courts,” explored the job duties, position descriptions and qualifications for court jobs across general and limited jurisdiction courts as well as relative compensation levels. The study compared data from Virginia with the neighboring state of Maryland and the federal judiciary. While the study identified disparity in compensation among court professionals, the analysis supported a finding that court jobs are comprised of similar tasks, thus permitting market analysis between all levels of Virginia courts, regardless of jurisdiction. The project provided a unique proof of concept for courts that wish to delve further into the challenging issues of classification and compensation parity for court employees.
Mrs. Griffin has been employed with Virginia’s Court System since 2005 and has held the position of Clerk of Court with the Chesterfield Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court since 2015. She holds a Master of Science in Criminal Justice Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Congratulations Laura!