February 22, 2026

The Nerve Archive

Where Government Gets Exposed

Rick Brundrett

Rick Brundrett joined the South Carolina Policy Council in September 2009 as a senior investigative reporter and became editor of The Nerve in September 2012. Before joining the Policy Council, Rick spent more than 11 years as a legal issues reporter at The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C. While there, he covered federal, state appellate and local courts, as well as legislative issues affecting public safety. He produced numerous investigative pieces over the years, exposing, for example, the state’s low prosecution and conviction rates for domestic violence suspects, the rampant practice of plea bargaining in repeat-offender DUI cases, and how the state’s system of electing judges was blocking minority candidates from being considered. His work contributed to statewide reforms. Rick spent the first 12 years of his newspaper career at The Herald-Palladium in St. Joseph, Mich., where he grew up. During most of his tenure there, he was the paper’s main police reporter. His investigative work included a series of stories on local unsolved child deaths, which resulted in criminal convictions in one of the cases. Besides his newspaper positions, Rick also has been a freelance writer for South Carolina Lawyers Weekly and a consultant for the In Session (formerly Court TV) cable television program. Rick has won numerous state and national awards over the years for his reporting and writing. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Central Michigan University, where he majored in journalism. You can contact rick at: rick@thenerve.org or call (803) 254-4411. Rick spent the first 12 years of his newspaper career at The Herald-Palladium in St. Joseph, Mich., where he grew up. During most of his tenure there, he was the paper’s main police reporter. His investigative work included a series of stories on local unsolved child deaths, which resulted in criminal convictions in one of the cases. Besides his newspaper positions, Rick also has been a freelance writer for South Carolina Lawyers Weekly and a consultant for the In Session (formerly Court TV) cable television program. Rick has won numerous state and national awards over the years for his reporting and writing. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Central Michigan University, where he majored in journalism. You can contact rick at: rick@thenerve.org or call (803) 254-4411.