Ex-Columbus DA can’t practice law after GA Supreme Court accepts license surrender
The Georgia Supreme Court has accepted imprisoned ex-Columbus District Attorney Mark Preston Jones’ voluntary surrender of his law license.
Jones petitioned the court Jan. 27 for the voluntary license surrender. He sent a letter from prison, where he is serving after pleading guilty to four of the nine felony counts he faced for misconduct in office. The court accepted it Thursday. All of the justices concurred in the decision.
“We have reviewed the record and accept Jones’ petition for the voluntary surrender of his license,” the court wrote. “Accordingly, the name Mark Preston Jones hereby is removed from the rolls of persons entitled to practice law in the state of Georgia.”
The court noted that Jones in his petition had acknowledged “the voluntary surrender of his license to practice law is tantamount to disbarment.”
Last year, Jones cut short his Muscogee Superior Court trial for misconduct in office and was sentenced to serve a year in prison.
In his January petition, he wrote that he wanted “to resolve this matter without the need for formal proceedings.”
Jones may apply to have his license re-instated in five years, according to the state bar association. He faced involuntary disbarment because of his felony convictions.
Jones took office as district attorney in January 2021, after defeating incumbent Julia Slater in the 2020 elections. But he served only 10 months before Gov. Brian Kemp suspended him after his indictment on felony charges.
A jury was deliberating the evidence presented at his week-long trial when Jones decided Nov. 15 to plead guilty. Visiting Judge Katherine Lumsden sentenced him to five years in prison with one to serve, and fined him $1,000.
Jones, 40, pleaded to these charges:
- Influencing witnesses by telling a police detective to lie under oath.
- Attempted violation of oath of office by trying to get Sheneka Terry, his chief assistant district attorney at the time, to accept $1,000 for a murder conviction.
- Attempted violation of oath of office by trying to get Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Schwartz to accept $1,000 to take a murder case to trial.
- Violating his oath of office by failing to help the nephew of a homicide victim who complained about how prosecutors handled his late uncle’s case.
This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 6:40 PM.