Lamont Jones
Months after Lamont Jones celebrated winning a spot on the November general election ballot, his future in public office may be in jeopardy.
A lawsuit filed earlier this month attempts to knock Jones, one of three Democratic nominees for Harrisburg City Council, off the ballot, citing several criminal convictions dating back nearly 20 years or more.
The complaint, which also cites the Dauphin County Bureau of Elections as a defendant, was filed on July 13 by plaintiffs Katherine Knapp and Sherron Roy. They argue that Jones’ past criminal convictions disqualify him from holding public office in the commonwealth.
Jones, a Harrisburg resident, won the third-most number of votes for the nomination for council at the polls during the May primary election. Incumbent council President Danielle Bowers and newcomer Crystal Davis also won Democratic nominations for the three seats. Jones was also endorsed as a candidate by the Dauphin County Democratic Committee.
According to the lawsuit, Jones was convicted in 1997 of false reports to law enforcement, a misdemeanor, and convicted twice, once in 2004 and 2005, with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, a felony.
The complaint states that the convictions fall under what the state classifies as “infamous crimes,” offenses that disqualify someone from assuming office. Plaintiffs requested “equitable relief from this court to substitute Jones on the Democratic ballot […] with a viable candidate who will be qualified to serve on the Harrisburg City Council,” according to the lawsuit.
According to Marco Attisano, an attorney with Pittsburgh-based Flannery Georgalis, who is representing the plaintiffs in the case, Jones misrepresented his eligibility to hold office.
“If Mr. Jones were to win the November election, he is ineligible to serve,” Attisano said.
Jones has publicly shared his history with the criminal justice system and incarceration through his platform as an activist for improved support for those re-entering society after prison. He is the founder of Jones Resources, which helps find jobs for people with criminal backgrounds.
“Lamont has made tremendous advances in changing his life path for the greater good,” the Jones Resources website states. “He has taken his mistakes and made them assets to his life, his family and those he encounters on a daily basis.”
According to his website, Jones also mentors within Pennsylvania state prisons and halfway houses and is a certified life coach and recovery specialist.
Jones was reached by TheBurg, but declined to comment for the story.
In the lawsuit against Jones and the county elections bureau, the plaintiffs requested that the county elections bureau not interfere with the state Democratic Party’s ability to select a substitute for the nomination. If granted, that likely would mean that the party would hold the power to select a replacement nominee.
Attisano said that if Jones were elected to city council and disqualified based on his past convictions, Harrisburg City Council would be tasked with appointing a replacement to fill the seat.
“It’s about advocating that the voters are the ones who get to pick their representative,” Attisano said.
A court hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for Aug. 8 at noon at the Dauphin County Courthouse.
This story was updated on 7/24/23 at 7:50 p.m. to include a statement from the attorney representing the plaintiffs in the case.
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