Pleas E. Jones (December 23, 1912 – September 20, 1986) was an American lawyer and jurist from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. A native of

Whitley County, Kentucky Whitley County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,712. Its county seat is at Williamsburg, though the largest city is Corbin, and the county's District Cou ...

, Jones was a schoolteacher before he served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After returning to the United States, Jones earned his law degree at the

University of Kentucky College of Law The University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law, also known as UK Rosenberg College of Law, is the law school of the University of Kentucky located in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded initially from a law program at Transylvania Univers ...

. Jones was a county judge and a

Commonwealth's attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

before being elected a circuit judge. In 1973, Jones was appointed an justice of the

Kentucky Court of Appeals The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower of Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illino ...

—then the state's highest court. He served on that court (subsequently renamed the

Kentucky Supreme Court The Kentucky Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Prior to its creation by constitutional amendment in 1975, the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky. The Kentucky Court of Ap ...

) until his retirement in 1979. He died seven years later.

Early life and family

Pleas Jones was born on a farm in

, on December 23, 1912. He was the son of Nathaniel "Thanny" and Rachel Lundy Jones. In the 1920s, the family moved to Harlan County, where Jones earned money by delivering ''

The Cincinnati Post ''The Cincinnati Post'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. In Northern Kentucky, it was Product bundling, bundled inside a local edition called ''The Kentucky Post''. The ''Post'' was a founding publi ...

'' in the town of

Bardo In some schools of Buddhism, ''bardo'' ( Wylie: ''bar do'') or ''antarābhava'' (Sanskrit, Chinese and Japanese: 中有, romanized in Chinese as ''zhōng yǒu'' and in Japanese as ''chū'u'') is an intermediate, transitional, or liminal state b ...

. The family returned to Whitley County, and after graduating from Williamsburg High School, Jones matriculated to Cumberland College (then a

junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

, now

University of the Cumberlands The University of the Cumberlands is a private Christian university in Williamsburg, Kentucky, United States. Over 20,000 students are enrolled at the university. History University of the Cumberlands, first called Williamsburg Institute, was f ...

). He left Cumberland in 1934 and earned education degrees at

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

and Eastern State Teachers College (now

Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky University (Eastern or EKU) is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. It also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, and Manchester and offers over 40 online undergraduate and graduate options. History Founding ...

). Jones and his wife, Marie, had two sons – Pleas David and Gorman. Jones was an active member of Main Street Baptist Church in Williamsburg, where he was a

Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

teacher and the church treasurer. He was also a member of a number of civic organizations, including the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

Lions Club Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

Shriners Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic body, Masonic society. Founded in 1872 in New York City, it is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and has over ...

, and the

Sons of the American Revolution The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), formally the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), is a federally chartered patriotic organization. The National Society, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Louisvi ...

. He sat on the board of directors for Southeastern Kentucky Baptist Hospital.

Public career

Jones was a teacher in the public schools from 1931, until being elected county clerk of Whitley County in 1939. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

. Returning to Kentucky after the war, he attended the

, earning a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree. He was elected

county judge The term county judge is applied as a descriptor, sometimes as a title, for a person who presides over a county court. In most cases, such as in Northern Ireland and the Victorian County Courts, a county judge is a judicial officer with civi ...

in 1953. In 1959, he was elected

for the state's 34th judicial district, including Whitley and McCreary counties. He continued in that office until 1963, when he was elected circuit judge for the district. He was twice re-elected without opposition. Concurrent with his public service, he chaired the

Kentucky Republican Party The Republican Party of Kentucky is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Kentucky and follows its nationally established platform. The party's headquarters is in Frankfort, Kentucky. The party gained relevance around the 1940s, though Kentu ...

in the 5th congressional district. He was also a delegate to the

1968 Republican National Convention The 1968 Republican National Convention was held at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Dade County, Florida, USA, from August 5 to August 8, 1968, to select the party's nominee in the general election. It nominated former Vice P ...

, where he supported the nomination of

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich "Rocky" Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He was also the 49th governor of New York, serving from 1959 to 197 ...

for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

, although the nomination ultimately went to

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

. Although he was recommended by Kentucky's Republican Senators

John Sherman Cooper John Sherman Cooper (August 23, 1901 – February 21, 1991) was an American politician, jurist, and diplomat from the United States. He served three non-consecutive, partial terms in the United States Senate before being elected to two fu ...

and Marlow Cook, Nixon is said to have refused to appoint Jones to the

United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky The United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky (in case citations, W.D. Ky.) is the United States district court, federal district court for the western part of the state of Kentucky. Appeals from the Western District of K ...

because Jones did not support him at the convention.

Kentucky Court of Appeals and Supreme Court

In August 1973, Democratic

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Wendell H. Ford Wendell Hampton Ford (September 8, 1924 – January 22, 2015) was an American politician from Kentucky. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Governor of Kentucky from 1971 to 1974, and as a member of the United States Senate for 24 ye ...

appointed Jones to the

, then the state's

court of last resort In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Homer Nelkirk. Upset that Jones had accepted an appointment from a Democratic governor, the Republican Party chose Kenton Cooper instead of Jones to run in the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

for the remainder of Newkirk's term. Undeterred, Jones successfully defended the seat as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, winning by a 7,500-vote margin. A constitutional amendment restructured Kentucky's court system in 1976, creating a new Kentucky Court of Appeals and renaming the existing court of last resort to the

. The sitting justices were retained on the court, with Jones representing the 3rd district. He frequently acted as chief justice in the absence of John S. Palmore. Jones retired from the court in 1979, making him the first justice to retire from the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Death

Jones died of cancer at his home in

Williamsburg, Kentucky Williamsburg is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Whitley County, on the southeastern border of Kentucky, United States. The population was 5,326 at the 2020 census. Developed along the Cumberland River, the city was founded in ...

on September 19, 1986.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Pleas 1912 births 1986 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II Baptists from Kentucky Deaths from cancer in Kentucky Eastern Kentucky University alumni Judges of the Kentucky Court of Appeals Kentucky Republicans Justices of the Kentucky Supreme Court People from Whitley County, Kentucky Union College (Kentucky) alumni University of Kentucky College of Law alumni University of the Cumberlands alumni 20th-century Kentucky state court judges 20th-century Baptists Kentucky commonwealth's attorneys