2 Years Late, Courts Chief Moves In

Administrator Failed to Meet Job's Residency Requirement

Anne B. Wicks recently moved to the NW house she bought in 2004. (Bill O'leary - The Washington Post)

The D.C. Courts' top administrator, Anne B. Wicks, did not meet her job's residency requirement for more than two years, going home to a house in Arlington County -- until a couple of weeks ago.

After an anonymous tip to the D.C. inspector general's office in March, Wicks's boss, D.C. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Eric T. Washington, ordered her to move into the District promptly. For months after that, she remained in Virginia.

Recently, just as Legal Times was about to break the news that Wicks had been living outside the city for much of her tenure as the court's executive officer, she moved into a Northwest Washington house that she had bought in October 2004 but never occupied.

Washington said Wicks's conduct is under review and added: "Whether it will impact on her ability to lead the court is something we're evaluating now."

In an interview, Wicks said that her purchase of the house, in the Palisades neighborhood, was evidence of her intent to live in the city and that she wanted to raze the house and build another on the site.

The plan faltered, however, and her family remained in Virginia while she and her husband tried to figure out what to do, she said.

Wicks never alerted Washington, his predecessor, Annice M. Wagner, or D.C. Superior Court Chief Judge Rufus G. King III that she was not meeting the residency law. Only when asked by Washington and King did she tell them that she was living outside the District.

"The fact that I haven't sustained my residency is my responsibility, and it is wrong," Wicks said.

And she was improperly, though she says unwittingly, claiming a homestead deduction on the Palisades residence -- a tax benefit available only to a homeowner occupying the home and one that she repaid this year after an audit by the city.

For a court system that has invested considerable energy into shedding a reputation for mismanagement and rebuilding relations with Congress, Wicks's residency troubles were a particularly unwanted revelation.

Wicks manages the financial and administrative operations of the two courts, which have a combined budget of $216 million and 1,161 employees. During her tenure, the court system has embarked on a major infrastructure project, renovating the main courthouse and restoring buildings around Judiciary Square, including the historic structure that will be the new home of the Court of Appeals.

Wicks is the secretary to the judicial administration committee, which sets policy for Superior Court and the Court of Appeals. She reports to Washington, who as chief judge of the District's highest court, chairs the committee.