Applause erupted as Jasmine Jackson entered the room where her colleagues had gathered for her one-year anniversary as the Anne Arundel County Register of Wills.
Over the last year and a half, the register of wills office has been shrouded in controversy. In January 2024, then-Register of Wills Erica Griswold was indicted on misconduct and theft charges, leading to her removal from office.
During Wednesday’s celebration, the office’s chief deputy, Jennifer Lambert, didn’t want to dwell on the controversy. She praised Jackson for her work over the past year.
“I will not get into that because it no longer deserves our attention, but what I will get into is how we endured, how we persevered, and how we stood our ground for what was right,” Lambert said.
Jackson was appointed to replace Griswold last June after working in the department for 16 years. Since then, employees say there has been a shift in the office environment, with more positivity, efficiency and collaboration.
“I actually have a connection with the people that work here, as well as understanding the workload and what it takes to work your way up through the office,” Jackson said. “I can see things from a different perspective, so I have that empathy towards my employees.”
Since Jackson’s appointment, the register of wills has cut state spending within the department by 25%.
Jackson has filed to run in the 2026 election. So far, no one has filed to challenge her.
Eunice Owens, a court administrator for 30 years, said that a year ago, she wasn’t “thrilled” to tell people where she works. This year is different, she said.
“It’s just a little more head lifting,” Owens said about her office.
A year ago, Griswold pleaded guilty to misconduct after cashing a check worth more than $6,000 that was intended to pay a resident’s inheritance tax. As a result, she was removed from office and sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation.
Griswold’s election in 2022 made her the first Black person to hold the position.
Though her job was to protect the financial interests and estates of residents after their deaths, court records revealed Griswold had decades worth of missed payments as well as financial disputes with landlords and other parties.
In March, less than a year after her removal from office, Griswold was charged with misdemeanor theft for shoplifting curtains, a set of sheets and bathroom appliances from Walmart.
In May, after pleading guilty, Griswold was sentenced to six months in jail, with the entire term suspended, and three months of supervised probation.
Days later, Griswold appealed the case, asking that her sentence be modified. According to court records, a status hearing for her appeal is set for July 11.
When asked if she had a comment on her removal for office or her appeal for the shoplifting charge Griswold said in a Facebook direct message that the Capital Gazette’s request for comment was “another reminder of how women, particularly Black women in leadership, are often not afforded the dignity of being celebrated for their achievements, but are instead harassed, picked apart, and used for fodder when the narrative turns negative.”
Griswold said that in her role as register of wills, she modernized the office, increased staff morale and increased access to and awareness of the office by creating an outreach program to educate residents on the importance of having a will and estate planning.
“I’m not obligated to relive or explain anything to satisfy a slanted and disrespectful headline,” she said.
At the anniversary event for Jackson, Kay Gertz said she left the Anne Arundel County Register of Wills office during Griswold’s term but returned when Jackson took over.
Gertz, who has worked in the department for almost 30 years, said she stayed as long as she could when Griswold was in office, but that she had a “gut feeling” that something was wrong.
“It was like, red flags everywhere that something bad was going to happen, and like a month later, it went down,” she said.
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