James Parker Jones (born 1940) is a United States federal judge who currently is the chief judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia.
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Jones was born in Tampa, Florida. He received an A.B. from Duke University in 1962. He received an LL.B. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1965.
Jones was an Assistant commonwealth attorney general of Virginia from 1965 to 1966. He was a law clerk, Hon. Clement Haynsworth, U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit from 1966 to 1968. He was in private practice in Abingdon, Virginia from 1968 to 1971. He was in private practice in Bristol, Virginia from 1971 to 1995. He was a Virginia state senator from 1983 to 1988. He was also a member of the Virginia State Board of Education from 1990 to 1996.
On May 16, 1979, President Carter nominated Jones to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia.[1] However, his nomination never was processed by the United States Senate before Carter lost his bid for re-election, and President Reagan later chose not to renominate Jones to the seat.
Jones eventually became a judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia after President Bill Clinton nominated him on December 12, 1995, to fill the seat vacated by James Harry Michael Jr., who had taken senior status.
The United States Senate confirmed Jones on July 18, 1996, and he received his commission on August 1, 1996.
Jones has served as his court's chief judge since 2004.