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Norton Introduces Bill to Create D.C. Residency Requirement for CSOSA, PSA Directors

August 13, 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today introduced a bill to require the Director of the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia (CSOSA), an independent federal agency created by Congress that supervises offenders only in D.C., to reside in the District during the Director's tenure. Norton's bill would also require the Director of the Pretrial Services Agency for D.C. (PSA), which is an independent agency within CSOSA that supervises defendants only in D.C., to reside in D.C. during the Director's tenure.

"Congress has wisely understood that federal officials must live in the jurisdiction they serve to ensure in-depth knowledge of the unique issues and challenges residents and these federal officials face," Norton said. "There is every reason that the Directors of CSOSA and PSA, both federal agencies that uniquely serve only D.C. residents, should live in the District, engage with local communities and work closely with local officials."

Norton previously introduced a bill to require federal district court judges, the U.S. Attorney and the U.S. Marshals for D.C., to live in the District. In nearly every jurisdiction in the United States, including the territories, these federal officials are required by law to reside within the jurisdictions where they have been appointed—but no such residency requirement exists for such officials serving in the District.