State of Mississippi Judiciary

Supreme Court appoints Richard Griffin as Marshal

May 26, 2021

The Mississippi Supreme Court has appointed Richard A. Griffin of Brandon as Marshal in charge of security for the Carroll Gartin Justice Building. The appointment is effective June 1.

Stephen E. Markert of Madison will retire on May 31 after 11 years of service as Marshal to the Supreme Court. Griffin has served as Chief Deputy Marshal for more than seven years.

The Supreme Court Marshal directs security and emergency responses in the Gartin Justice Building in Jackson. The Marshal coordinates with Capitol Police to provide security for the public, Supreme Court Justices, Court of Appeals Judges, and all staff who work in the Gartin Justice Building. The position of Marshal of the Supreme Court is a statutory post authorized by Mississippi Code Section 9-3-29.

Griffin joined the Supreme Court staff in 2014 after serving for more than 28 years in the U.S. Marshals Service. He was Supervisory Inspector for almost eight years in the Jackson office of the U.S. Marshals Service’s Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force. Before that, he was Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal in the Southern District of Mississippi. His work included supervising the response of the 45-county Southern District of Mississippi to Hurricane Katrina, including accounting for all judicial personnel and assets, assisting in providing for lodging and relocation for affected personnel, arranging transfer of federal inmates from affected jails to safe areas, and ensuring that all federal court facilities in the affected area were secure.

Griffin earned a Master of Public Administration degree with an emphasis in emergency management in 2006 from Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Ala. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from Delta State University in 1985. He is a certified emergency medical technician and a former tactical medic. He teaches basic life support and CPR/AED at Hinds Community College. He is a NRA certified law enforcement firearms instructor.

Markert has 43 years of law enforcement and judicial security experience. He joined the Supreme Court staff after 28 years of service with the U.S. Marshals Service, the last 12 years serving as Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Mississippi. Markert was Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal in Portland, Ore. He began his law enforcement career as a police officer in Richmond, Ky., in 1978, then worked as a correctional officer for the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Lexington, Ky. His first post with the U.S. Marshals Service was in San Diego, Calif. He left the Marshals Service for two years to serve as a U.S. Customs Service special agent in San Diego, where he was assigned to investigate narcotics smuggling across the U.S. border. Markert is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University, with a B.S. degree in police administration.

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