Frank Caprio

In 2021, Caprio started the Filomena fund, a fund that helps pays and supports people who are unable to pay for traffic violations, by a single mother in Indiana who sent a letter and a small donation to Caprio. Caprio then read the letter on television, after he read the letter, people from all over the world started donating to his court.

Caprio has been married to Joyce E. Caprio for over 50 years. They have five children together, including: Frank T. Caprio, David Caprio, Marissa Caprio Pesce, John Caprio, and Paul Caprio. They also have seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. An avid Boston Red Sox fan, Caprio threw the ceremonial first pitch on July 25, 2019, at Fenway Park when the Red Sox took on the New York Yankees.

Caprio was elected to the Providence City Council in 1962 and served until 1968. He was elected as a Delegate to the Rhode Island Constitutional Convention in 1975 and he has been elected as a Delegate to five Democratic National Conventions. He served as chairman of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education which controls major decisions for the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and Community College of Rhode Island. Since 1985, he has served as a Providence Municipal Court Judge. Parts of the proceedings over which he presided, featuring low-level citations, ran for more than two decades on local television. Caprio's TV series, Caught in Providence originated on PEG access television in Rhode Island and was first picked up by ABC station WLNE-TV in 2000, initially airing in late night on Saturdays. Following a hiatus, Caught in Providence returned in 2015 and aired following the 11 o'clock newscasts on Saturdays until September 2017. Clips from this show went viral in the 2010s The program has also received coverage from media organizations around the world, such as NBC News. On September 24, 2018, Caught in Providence went into national syndication. The show was renewed for a second season of syndication in January 2019.

In 2017, videos showing his courtroom went viral, with more than 15 million views. In 2022, views of Caught in Providence were nearing 500 million and one video shared on Pulptastic had 43.6 million views on YouTube.

Caprio was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law by his alma mater Suffolk University Law School in 1991 and Providence College in 2008, and also received an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service from the University of Rhode Island in 2016. In August 2018, Caprio received the Producer's Circle Award at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

Caprio has been involved in the Boys Town of Italy, the Nickerson House Juvenile Court and Rhode Island Food Bank. In 1983 he was the Co-Chair for the Rhode Island Statue of Liberty Foundation (raising funds for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island). Caprio was also a member of the Board of Regents of Elementary and Secondary education and the Governor's Pre-K thru 16 Council on education. He is a member of the President's Council at Providence College.

Caprio attended the Providence public schools, while working as a dishwasher and shoe-shiner. He graduated from Central High School, where he won the state title in wrestling in 1953. He earned a bachelor's degree from Providence College. After graduating, he began teaching American government at Hope High School in Providence, Rhode Island. While teaching at Hope, Caprio attended the night school of the Suffolk University School of Law in Boston. This subsequently led to him joining the legal profession. Caprio also served in the National Guard from 1954 to 1962 in the 876th Combat Engineer Battalion. During his time in the National Guard, he was stationed at Camp Varnum in Narragansett and Fort Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania.

Francesco "Frank" Caprio (born November 24, 1936) is an American jurist, politician, and currently serving as the chief municipal judge in Providence, Rhode Island and the former Chairman of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education. His judicial work is televised on the television program Caught in Providence. He also has made appearances in the series Parking Wars dealing with several cases of traffic violations in his courtroom.