--- title: In the Matter of Austin O. Jones collection: opinions id: S25Y0142 cite_as: In the Matter of Austin O. Jones, 320 Ga. 448 (2024) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S25Y0142 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S25Y0142.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S25Y0142/text source_url: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10680215/in-the-matter-of-austin-o-jones/ date: 2024-11-19 status: published corpus_version: opinions-2026-09-14 license: Public record of the Supreme Court of Georgia, via CourtListener and the court's own website; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/2024.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S24Y1244.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S24Y1267.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/index.md omitted: opinion extras omitted_chars: 1870 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S25Y0142.md?full=1 docket: S25Y0142 citation: 320 Ga. 448 court: Supreme Court of Georgia case_type: bar discipline authoring_justice: Per Curiam disposition: Voluntary surrender of license accepted vote: All the Justices concur word_count: 386 date_filed_source: courtlistener citations: - 909 S.E.2d 441 record_source: courtlistener legal_areas: - professional discipline upstream_id: "10680215" summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 --- # In the Matter of Austin O. Jones Supreme Court of Georgia, docket S25Y0142, filed 2024-11-19, 320 Ga. 448. ## Opinion 320 Ga. 448 FINAL COPY S25Y0142. IN THE MATTER OF AUSTIN O. JONES. PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the petition for voluntary discipline filed by Austin O. Jones (State Bar No. 398508) prior to the issuance of a formal complaint under Bar Rule 4-227 (b). In his petition, Jones, who has been a member of the Bar since 2003, admits that, on July 24, 2024, he entered a guilty plea in the United States District Court to two felony charges of possession of child pornography. See 18 USC §§ 2252A (a) (5) (B) and (b) (2). By this conduct, Jones acknowledges that he violated Rule 8.4 (a) (2)1 of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct found in Bar Rule 4-102 (d). See Rule 1.0 (e) (1). The maximum penalty for a violation of Rule 8.4 (a) (2) is disbarment. Jones seeks to voluntarily surrender his license 1 This Rule provides that “[i]t shall be a violation of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct for a lawyer to . . . be convicted of a felony.” For purposes of this Rule, conviction shall include “a guilty plea.” Rule 8.4 (b) (1); Rule 1.0 (e) (1). to practice law, which he acknowledges is tantamount to disbarment. Rule 1.0 (s). See In the Matter of Williams, 291 Ga. 659 (732 SE2d 85) (2012) (accepting voluntary surrender of license where attorney violated Rule 8.4 (a) (2)); In the Matter of Campbell, 282 Ga. 688 (653 SE2d 51) (2007) (same). The State Bar responds that it believes that it is in the best interest of the public and the profession for the Court to accept Jones’s petition. We have reviewed the record and agree to accept Jones’s petition for voluntary surrender of his license. Accordingly, the name of Austin O. Jones hereby is removed from the rolls of persons entitled to practice law in the State of Georgia. Jones is reminded of his duties under Bar Rule 4-219 (b). Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. Decided November 19, 2024. Voluntary surrender of license. Paula J. Frederick, General Counsel State Bar, Russell D. Willard, General Counsel State Bar Designate, William D. NeSmith III, Deputy General Counsel State Bar, Andreea N. Morrison, Lori E. Anderson, Assistant General Counsel State Bar, for State Bar of Georgia. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the opinion above and is not part of the court's opinion. Quote the opinion, not the summary. The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted attorney Austin O. Jones's petition to voluntarily surrender his law license after he pleaded guilty to two federal felony charges of possession of child pornography, a step treated the same as disbarment. ### Plain-language summary Austin O. Jones, a lawyer who had been a member of the State Bar of Georgia since 2003, pleaded guilty in federal court in July 2024 to two felony counts of possessing child pornography. Before the State Bar filed a formal disciplinary complaint against him, Jones asked the Supreme Court of Georgia to let him voluntarily give up his license to practice law rather than go through disciplinary proceedings. Jones acknowledged that his felony conviction violated the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, which make it misconduct for a lawyer to be convicted of a felony, including through a guilty plea. The maximum punishment for that rule violation is disbarment, and Jones agreed that surrendering his license amounts to the same thing. The State Bar told the court it supported accepting the petition. The court reviewed the record, agreed, and removed Jones from the rolls of people allowed to practice law in Georgia. ### Holding, as summarized A lawyer convicted of a felony, including by guilty plea, violates the rule against felony convictions, and the maximum penalty is disbarment; the court accepted the lawyer's voluntary surrender of his license as equivalent to disbarment and removed him from the rolls of Georgia lawyers. ### Disposition Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. ### Why it matters The decision permanently ends Jones's ability to practice law in Georgia without a full disciplinary hearing, protecting clients and the public from a lawyer convicted of a serious federal felony, and it shows how Georgia lawyers facing serious criminal convictions can resolve bar discipline matters quickly. > The summarized reasoning, checked quotes, suggested questions, and the CourtListener opinion records (1,870 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S25Y0142.md?full=1