Charles Grisbaum, Jr.

Who is Charles Grisbaum, Jr.?

Charles H. Grisbaum, Jr., is the retired chief judge of the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, located at Gretna in Jefferson Parish in the New Orleans suburbs. Grisbaum's last term expired on December 31, 2002.

The court was created by Act 3 of the 1981 regular legislative session, and the enabling legislation was signed by Republican Governor David C. Treen. The Fifth Circuit is composed of these four parishes: Jefferson, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John the Baptist.

Prior to the judgeship, Grisbaum represented suburban District 79 in Jefferson Parish in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972 to 1982. He was a Democrat until 1977, when he switched his affiliation to Republican. Then he was elected in 1979 to a full term as a Republican, but he left midway in that last term to assume the judgeship.

In 1974, Grisbaum was the Democratic nominee for Congress in the Third District. He lost to the Republican incumbent, David Treen, the first GOP congressman from Louisiana since Reconstruction. Few issues surfaced in the congressional race. Grisbaum accused Treen of having a zero rating from the trade association known as the National Council of Senior Citizens.