In the Matter of Allen Charles Jones

Allen Charles Jones was a lawyer licensed in both Alabama and Georgia. In Alabama, he was arrested in March 2023 for smuggling drugs and contraband to jail inmates while visiting them as their attorney, admitting he was paid $500 by a third party to do so. He did not respond to the Alabama State Bar's repeated attempts to contact him, and the Alabama Disciplinary Board eventually treated the allegations as admitted and disbarred him in September 2024. Jones never told the Georgia State Bar about his arrest or his Alabama disbarment, as required. Georgia sought to impose reciprocal discipline, but Jones could not be served in person and did not respond even after being served by publication. The Supreme Court of Georgia reviewed the record and agreed that his conduct violated Georgia's professional conduct rules, and it ordered him disbarred in Georgia as well.

The court held that Jones's admitted conduct, smuggling drugs and contraband to inmates for payment and failing to report his Alabama disbarment, violated Georgia's rules against dishonest professional conduct and against failing to notify the bar of discipline elsewhere, warranting disbarment to match the Alabama sanction.

The decision protects the public by removing a lawyer who admitted smuggling drugs to jailed clients from practicing anywhere in Georgia. It also reinforces that Georgia lawyers disciplined elsewhere must report it promptly or face matching discipline here.

Disbarred

1. The court applied the reciprocal discipline framework under Bar Rule 9.4, which generally requires imposing substantially similar discipline in Georgia as was imposed by another state's bar unless certain limited exceptions apply.
2. Because Jones did not respond to or object to the Notice of Reciprocal Discipline despite being served by publication after in-person service failed, the State Disciplinary Review Board reviewed the record itself to determine whether his conduct would violate Georgia's rules.
3. The record showed Jones admitted to Alabama authorities that he repeatedly smuggled drugs and other contraband to jail inmates while visiting them as their attorney, in exchange for payment, and that he never disclosed his arrest or eventual Alabama disbarment to the Georgia State Bar.
4. The court found this conduct would violate Georgia Rule 8.4(a)(4), which bars dishonest or deceitful professional conduct, and Rule 9.1(a)(3), which requires notifying the Georgia State Bar within sixty days of discipline imposed elsewhere.
5. Relying on its own precedent that reciprocal discipline generally requires imposing similar punishment as the other jurisdiction imposed, and noting Alabama had disbarred Jones, the court concluded disbarment was the appropriate matching sanction in Georgia.

• attorney disbarment
• reciprocal discipline
• drug smuggling
• State Bar of Georgia