Hon. Rupa Ranga Puttagunta is an Administrative Judge for the D.C. Rental Housing Commission, where she resolves appeals taken from the D.C. Office of Administrative Hearings. She also assists with the Commission’s rulemaking function, including issuing, amending, and rescinding regulations.

Judge Puttagunta served on the Criminal Justice Act (“CJA”) panels of the D.C. Superior Court and the D.C. Court of Appeals. She represented hundreds of indigent criminal defendants in trial and on appeal and served on D.C. Superior Court’s CJA Panel Advisory Committee. Judge Puttagunta was also an associate at a firm where she practiced family law. She provided hundreds of hours of pro bono legal services by representing victims of domestic violence and volunteering at D.C. Superior Court’s Family Court Self-Help Center and the Attorney Negotiator Program. In 2012, Judge Puttagunta was recognized on the D.C. Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll. In 2013, she was selected to serve on the D.C Bar Foundation Young Lawyers Network Leadership Council. Judge Puttagunta remains active in the community and serves on the Domestic Violence Resource Project’s board and the Law School Outreach Committee of the National Association of Women Judges.

Judge Puttagunta earned her Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College and Juris Doctor from The Ohio State Moritz College of Law, where she graduated as a Public Service Fellow with the Dean’s Special Recognition. Following law school, she clerked for the Honorable William M. Jackson on the D.C. Superior Court and the Senior Judges on the D.C. Court of Appeals.