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Brandi Grissom

Brandi Grissom’s staff photo

Brandi Grissom worked at the Tribune from its launch in 2009 until 2014, rising to the rank of managing editor. In addition to editing duties, Grissom led the Tribune's coverage of criminal justice issues. During her tenure at the Tribune, she was chosen as a 2012 City University of New York Center on Media, Crime and Justice/H.F. Guggenheim Journalism Fellow and was a fellow at the 2012 Journalist Law School at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. Grissom, along with Tribune multimedia producer Justin Dehn, received a 2012 regional Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting for work on the case of Megan Winfrey, who was acquitted of murder in February 2013 after the Trib’s coverage brought statewide attention the case. Grissom joined the Tribune after four years at the El Paso Times, where she acted as a one-woman Capitol bureau. Grissom won the Associated Press Managing Editors First-Place Award in 2007 for using the Freedom of Information Act to report stories on a variety of government programs and entities, and the ACLU of Texas named her legislative reporter of the year in 2007 for her immigration reporting. She previously served as managing editor at The Daily Texan and has worked for the Alliance Times-Herald, the Taylor Daily Press, the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung and The Associated Press. A native of Alliance, Neb., she has a degree in history from the University of Texas.

Past Contributions

  • Accountable to No One

    By Brandi Grissom

    The Texas Department of Criminal Justice oversees most state jails. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards presides over county jails. But the 350 city jails across Texas are wholly unregulated. The jail commission receives dozens of complaints about the conditions inside municipal lockups — most commonly about sanitation, food, supervision and medical care — but they have no power to investigate. While critics are calling on state lawmakers to implement at least minimum standards, city officials worry that expensive new rules could result in the closure of their jails, which would mean that already overflowing county jails would get even more crowded. Full Story 

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  • Getting Away With Murder

    By Brandi Grissom

    Tow truck driver Steven Hardin was shot and killed in April 1998 by Houston firefighter Barry Crawford during a dispute over a parking space. At the end of a high-profile trial, a jury found Crawford guilty of first-degree murder but sentenced him only to probation. A judge required the convicted killer to comply with various terms, including the payment of child support to the victim's family, but he failed to do all he was ordered. Nonetheless, a few months ago, he was released from his probation, leaving Hardin's mother with no recourse but to lobby for a change in state law. Full Story 

    Steven Hardin's parents, photographed near his burial plot.
    Credit: Callie Richmond

  • There Goes the Sun

    By Brandi Grissom

    In the tiny outpost of Marfa, residents who opposed the build-out of a massive solar power plant can thank the languishing economy for putting the project on hold. Tessera Solar has scotched plans to erect 1,000 three-story mirrored satellite dishes until further notice. Full Story 

    SunCatchers that Tessera Solar plans to install near Marfa.
    Credit: Tessera Solar

  • Jail the Jail Official?

    By Brandi Grissom

    The head of the state's Commission on Jail Standards could do time for being too open about a suicide in the Nueces County lockup. Is the indictment of Adan Muñoz retaliation by a sheriff his lawyer describes as a "crazy little bastard"? Regardless, an open government advocate calls it "outrageous." Full Story 

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    Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller

  • Pat Lykos: The TT Interview

    By Brandi Grissom

    The first female district attorney of Harris County on the massive scope of her job, softening her office's tough-on-crime reputation, the link between mental health care and criminal justice, why she set up a Post-Conviction Review Section and what she's learned from innocence cases so far. Full Story 

    District Attorney for Harris County, Pat Lykos.
    Credit: Callie Richmond

  • TribBlog: Defending the Innocent

    By Brandi Grissom

    The Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense today approved money to help establish a public defender's office in Harris County — the largest urban area in the nation without one — along with a slate of measures meant to prevent innocent people from serving time. Full Story 

    Timothy Cole
    Credit: Illustration by Courtesy of the Cole family

  • Should We Abolish the TYC?

    By Brandi Grissom

    Texas Appleseed and a key state lawmaker think that may be the only way to address persistent reports of violence, poor living conditions, and subpar education and mental health care at youth lockups across Texas. Full Story 

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  • Ballot Brawl

    By Brandi Grissom

    Rio Grande Valley officials are fighting to hold a special election in November to fill a seat on the Hidalgo County Commissioners' Court — even though the secretary of state and a district judge say they have no legal authority to do so. Full Story 

    Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade and Hidalgo County District Attorney René Guerra