Troutman received her Bachelor of Science degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1982 and her J.D. degree from Albany School of Law of Union University in 1985. Troutman began her legal career in 1986 as an Assistant Erie County District Attorney. She then became a New York Assistant Attorney General in 1989. In 1992, she became part of the United States Department of Justice as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of New York. She was then appointed (and later elected) to the Buffalo City Court in January 1994. She served in this position until 2002, when she was elected to the Erie County Court. She has also served as an acting Supreme Court justice.
