The Association of Oregon Counties has hired Branden Pursinger, chief of staff and caucus administrator for the Oregon Senate Republicans, as the AOC legislative affairs manager for natural resources policy. His first day will be Aug. 1. Reagan Knopp, a political consultant and son of Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp of Bend, is to succeed Pursinger as chief of staff.

Patsy Wood is retiring as support services supervisor at the Legislative Policy and Research Office. Besides seeking to fill that position as deputy director of administration, LPRO is recruiting for a legislative analyst with a background in one or more of these areas: business and labor; economic development; regulation of liquor, cannabis and other substances; gambling regulation; and housing and development. Both positions have an application deadline of July 24.

Devin Edwards recently left LPRO for a position as senior researcher with the labor union SEIU. In a limited duration job, he served as LPRO analyst to the Senate Housing and Development Committee and co-staffed the Joint Task Force on Addressing Racial Disparities in Home Ownership.

President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that he has nominated Oregon Supreme Court Associate Justice Adrienne C. Nelson to become a U.S. District Court judge for Oregon. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Nelson will be the first Black woman serving as a judge in the District of Oregon.

Colette Peters, who has led the Oregon Department of Corrections since February 2012, will become director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons on Aug. 2. Attorney General Merrick Garland officially announced her appointment on Tuesday.