He served a stint in the U.S. Air Force judge advocate general corps where he rose to the rank of captain.
In 1962 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Clinton County, Missouri, and opened a private law practice in Cameron, Missouri, and also served with the Kansas City law firm of Linde Thompson Fairchild Kohn and Vandyke.
In 1989 he was accused of steering business to his new Kansas City law firm of Kraft Fridkin and Ryhne.
In January 1992 after endorsing a 6 percent gasoline tax to improve the state highway system, Griffin was accused of meeting with members of the Heavy Constructors Association of Kansas City and the Associated General Contractors of Missouri at a Jefferson City, Missouri, hotel where he told them they should hire Cathryn Simmons to lobby for the tax.
In 1994 Griffin worked with Simmons to get Sahara Casino built in Parkville, Missouri, which would require a referendum to be passed to allow slot machines.
[5] Griffin pleaded guilty on the second day of the second trial, to two counts of bribery and mail fraud in conjunction with the original highway scheme.
[6][7] In January 2001 President Bill Clinton commuted (or lessened) what was left of his sentence without negating his conviction.