Marion County officials say they are sounding the alarm after a 41-year-old Oregon State Hospital patient was moved into a secure residential treatment facility in Salem, right after his state supervision expired. The transfer has local leaders openly questioning how high-risk patients end up in communities where they have no roots and very little warning is given.
The patient, identified as Grant Brannaman, was transferred from the Oregon State Hospital to Jory Behavioral Health in Salem once his supervision under the state’s Psychiatric Security Review Board (PSRB) ran out. Marion County officials say the PSRB had recently determined that further release was not in the public’s best interest, according to KATU. Brannaman’s history includes convictions going back to 2013, including sexual-offense convictions, and police records show he was arrested in Grants Pass in 2021 on arson and multiple criminal-mischief counts, according to a Grants Pass Department of Public Safety news release. County officials say they repeatedly asked the state hospital to keep him under supervision instead of transferring him into Marion County.
“The release of Brannaman highlights an alarming gap in our state mental health system’s ability to prevent high-risk individuals from returning to our neighborhoods,” Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson said, adding that local public-safety partners will be proactive about getting information to community leaders. Sheriff Nick Hunter and Salem Police Chief Trevor Womack joined Clarkson in raising concern that Brannaman had at times signaled an intent to reoffend, KATU reports.
How releases are supposed to work
Under Oregon law, there is a formal path for getting someone out of the state hospital. If a superintendent believes a person can safely return to the community, the hospital must apply to the PSRB and present a verified release plan, and the board then has to hold a hearing within specific timelines set in statute. Those rules spell out the board’s duty to review evidence, notify the Attorney General, and follow required procedures before anyone leaves state custody…