District attorney's office adds new position

The Carson City District Attorney's Office has added a prosecutor to its team for the first time in 10 years.

Matthew Griffin, 27, is the new deputy district attorney.

His experience with law in Carson City comes from a knowledgeable source -- his father, District Judge Michael Griffin.

A 1994 Carson High School graduate, Griffin received his undergraduate degree at the University Nevada, Reno, then received his degree in law at the University Nevada, Las Vegas. After a year of clerking for U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben in Reno, Griffin took the position with Carson City.

The fact that his father is the senior district judge shouldn't be a problem, he said.

"I can't have a case before him," he explained. All of his district court cases will be heard by Judge Bill Maddox.

Griffin said, surprisingly, he hasn't even seen Maddox since he set foot in the building Tuesday.

"I've been so busy. The first day, Anne (Langer) just throws you in the water," he said.

Chief Criminal Prosecutor Langer said of Griffin, "We're thrilled to have him. This is the first time in 10 years we've had a new position, and we are incredibly excited about our change in circumstances."

With the help of Carson City supervisors, Langer said, a grant from the federal Violence Against Women Act allowed the district attorney's office to hire Melissa Witker, whose focus will be domestic violence cases.

The grant also freed up the money for the office to hire Griffin.

The Carson City District Attorney's Office now has 11 deputy district attorneys to handle criminal prosecutions, enforcement of child support and all legal matters affecting the city government.

Griffin said he's looking forward to working for Carson City.

"There's jobs you can have in some areas of law where you sit behind a desk," he said. "But in this job, you're up, moving around, and dealing with people. I'm excited."

Judge Griffin said his whole family is happy to have Matt Griffin home, especially his wife.

"I'm just so pleased he's doing this," the judge said. "We won't be able to discuss any cases because I don't want to know what's going on in the district attorney's office, but I'm so proud of him."