Jones seeking superior court seat
By Steve Herring
Published in News on January 17, 2016 1:45 AM
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Arnold O. Jones II
District 8-B Superior Court Judge Arnold O. Jones II will face former Superior Court Judge Jerry Braswell and Goldsboro attorney Will Bland in the March 15 primary in which voters will select their top two candidates to face each other in the November general election.
A Wayne County native, Jones, 50, is a 1983 graduate of Charles B. Aycock High School in Pikeville. He received a business degree from UNC at Chapel Hill in 1986 and his law degree from Wake Forest University in 1989.
He returned to Goldsboro where he practiced law for 17 and a half years before being elected as Superior Court judge in 2008.
In November, Jones was charged with promising to pay a bribe to a public official, promising and paying a gratuity to a public official and corruptly attempting to influence an official proceeding.
According to the indictment, Jones asked the officer to illegally obtain text messages exchanged between two cell phone numbers in return for cases of beer and $100.
Jones, who has denied any wrongdoing, said he was limited in what he could say about the case.
"I feel like what has happened -- that I learned from it," he said. "When situations occur in our life we either deal with those appropriately or not. I feel I am dealing with it appropriately. I believe in our system of justice. I feel good about things. If I didn't, I would not have filed for re-election."
Jones has two stories he likes to weave into his campaign comments to illustrate how judges have to listen and follow along with what is going on in their courtroom.
Both involve defendants charged with absconding probation.
"When people work and do their best, I believe I am the judge they want to come before because I like it when people work," he said. "I think everybody who can work, should."
The first case was a man who said he had to go to South Carolina to find a job to support his family. But when Jones had the clerk call the man's place of employment, his boss said not to send him back because the defendant had stolen from him.
Jones revoked his probation.
The second case concerned a woman who came to court with $2,000 that she asked Jones to give to whomever would be caring for her small child.
The woman said she had been renting a room from a friend who was renting a house, but that the friend apparently did not pay the rent and lost the house. She said she had to find another place to live and had failed to tell her probation officer.
Jones asked her if she knew what justice and grace are.
She said she did.
Jones asked her if she wanted justice or grace. She replied grace.
"I said, 'So do I, and I can not expect it if I do not give it,'" Jones said. "She walked out of that courtroom with her $2,000 and her baby, and there wasn't a dry eye in that courtroom. And that is who I am, and that is why you need to vote for me.
"I have tried, and believe I have carried out my campaign promises to be fair, to consider both sides of a case in the courtroom, and I hope the people of our county will continue to allow me to do that job," Jones said. "I will continue that same pledge to listen to both sides of the case, consider all things before making any type of decision."
Jones' father, the late Arnold Jones, served as a lay District Court judge from 1974 to 1998 when he was elected to Superior Court. He retired late 2000.
"He taught me so many things -- hard work and commitment to what you do, commitment to being fair and listening to everyone before you make a decision," Jones said. "I take that with me every day in everything that I try to do.
Jones said he would give people several reasons why they should vote for him.
"First of all, I truly care and respect all those that either come before me or work with me. I show respect to prosecutors, defendants, to lawyers, to clerks, to my staff. I think we have in Wayne County a terrific group of folks, including our magistrates as well."
Jones said he does not take total credit for that. It takes everyone working together to make the judicial system what it is, he said.
"In the past seven years being on the bench, I believe we have made improvements. We have improved the way that cases are handled, I believe quicker. Numbers can be what you make them. But it is people who make the system work.
"I am not so much a numbers guy. I am a people person, and I bring a human element to that courtroom. I believe that if you are someone on trial, that I am the judge you would want to be your judge. I believe I have exhibited that. I would ask people if you don't know Arnie Jones, ask people who do. Ask people who have worked with him."
Jones said he has been "overwhelmed" over the past several months with the positive responses he has gotten from the public about the job everyone at the courthouse has done since he has been elected.
Jones said he enjoys working with children.
"I have a soft spot for kids," he said. "It is common that I will invite school groups to the courthouse. They will come in and sit in on court. I have a kid come up to the bench and sit at the bench and take pictures. I really have an interest in kids because that is how our community continues."
Jones said he has reinstated a regular monthly breakfast that was initiated by his father many years ago.
The breakfast is for anyone involved in the court system, including county commissioners and state legislators.
"We meet quarterly, and we discuss things that are working good and things that may not be working so good," he said. "We discuss concerns that we have -- how we as a group may be able to address those. We don't talk about cases. We talk about the big picture."
Jones said he has worked closely with commissioners who have given him the tools to make his job not only better, but more efficient.
That, in turn, saves taxpayers' money, he said.
For example, the historic courtroom was refurbished, electronic equipment has been brought in to allow for some procedures over video and courthouse security has been much improved.
Jones is a member of Stoney Creek Free Will Baptist Church, where he is a deacon and has taught Sunday school for more than 20 years.
He has three children.