Governor wants nominations for Columbus District Attorney after Jones jailed. What to know

Tim Chitwood
·2 min read
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has asked local members of the state bar association to send him nominees for district attorney in the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit based in Columbus.

The position currently is held by Acting District Attorney Sheneka Terry, sworn in after District Attorney Mark Jones was suspended last year amid allegations of misconduct. Jones cut short his trial on those charges in November when he pleaded guilty and resigned.

Terry said Friday that she would have to talk with her family before deciding whether to apply.

“It’s a very serious position, and it’s a large undertaking,” she said, adding she just saw the governor’s notice. “I’m sure the governor will do what is best for the circuit.”

The governor’s office sent the notice out Friday morning. It said Kemp wants nominations submitted by Jan. 28, just a week away.

He asked anyone interested in the position to fill out an application and send it to Rhonda Barnes Wilson in his paralegal office.

Officials at the Georgia Attorney General’s Office and the Georgia Secretary of State have said Kemp’s appointee will serve the remainder of Jones’ term, which ends in December 2024.

Former District Attorney Mark Jones and his defense attorney Katonga Wright on day four of the misconduct trial against him on Nov. 11, 2021, in Columbus, Ga. Jones took a plea deal in the case.
Former District Attorney Mark Jones and his defense attorney Katonga Wright on day four of the misconduct trial against him on Nov. 11, 2021, in Columbus, Ga. Jones took a plea deal in the case.

Jones took office in January 2021, after defeating incumbent Julia Slater in the 2020 elections, but he served only 10 months before the governor suspended him after his indictment on nine felony charges.

A jury was deliberating the evidence presented at his 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 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 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 uncle’s case.

Sheneka Terry swears in as acting Muscogee County District Attorney at the Government Center on Oct. 6, 2021, in Columbus, Ga. Terry succeeds DA Mark Jones after he was suspended following an indictment, including bribery, in September.
Sheneka Terry swears in as acting Muscogee County District Attorney at the Government Center on Oct. 6, 2021, in Columbus, Ga. Terry succeeds DA Mark Jones after he was suspended following an indictment, including bribery, in September.