Emil Jones III (born May 16, 1978) is the

Illinois State Senator The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under th ...

for the 14th Senate District since 2010. The 14th district covers all or parts of Palos Heights,

Oak Forest An oak forest is a plant community with a tree canopy dominated by oaks (''Quercus spp.''). In terms of canopy closure, oak forests contain the most closed canopy, compared to oak savannas and oak woodlands. Setting Oak forests are categoriz ...

, Crestwood,

Blue Island Blue Island is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, south of Chicago's Loop. Blue Island is adjacent to the city of Chicago and shares its northern boundary with that city's Morgan Park neighborhood. The population was 22,558 at t ...

, Alsip,

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

, and Riverdale. Jones is the son of former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones.

Electoral career

In the midst 2008 election season, Jones' father, Illinois Senate president Emil Jones, Jr., vacated the 14th Legislative District Illinois Senate seat in August, after the February 5 primary had already passed; son Jones III was appointed as Democratic candidate and won the November 2008 general election. Jones was re-elected to the Illinois Senate in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

(to a 2-year term), and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, running unopposed in each election.

Illinois State Senate

As of July 2022, Jones is a member of the following Illinois Senate committees: * Appropriations - Business Regulations and Labor Committee (SAPP-SBRL) * Energy and Public Utilities Committee (SENE) * Financial Institutions Committee (SFIC) * (Chairman of) Licensed Activities Committee (SLIC) * Public Safety Committee (SPUB) * Redistricting Committee (SRED) * Redistricting - Chicago South Committee (SRED-SRCS) * Transportation Committee (STRN) Jones also serves as the Treasurer for the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus. In September 2022, Jones was indicted on three felony charges, including bribery and lying to federal agents in connection with a scandal involving a company that provides red light cameras for the state of Illinois. Jones pled not guilty to the charges. Illinois Governor

J. B. Pritzker Jay Robert Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 43rd governor of Illinois. A member of the wealthy Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain, Pritzker has started several vent ...

called for Jones to resign his seat. The jury deadlocked on all three charges and U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood declared a mistrial.

Personal life

Jones is the son of former

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...

President Emil Jones Jr. and Patricia Jones. He graduated from Chicago Christian High School before attending

Chicago State University Chicago State University (CSU) is a Historically black colleges and universities, predominantly black (PBI) public university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It includes an honors program for undergraduates and offers bachelor's and master ...

and

Robert Morris College Robert Morris University Illinois, formerly Robert Morris College, was a private university with its main campus in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1965 but its oldest ancestor was the Moser School founded in 1913. It changed its name to ...

but did not receive a degree from either institution. He is

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. Before becoming a State Senator, Jones served as an administrator at the

Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity ttps://dceo.illinois.gov/smallbizassistance/beginhere/businessinformationcenter.html Business Information Center The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) is the code department of the Illinois state government that spons ...

References

External links

Biography, bills and committees
at the 98th Illinois General Assembly **By session
98th97th96thIllinois State Senator Emil Jones III
legislative website *
Friends of Emil Jones III
campaign committee filings (including donors) at the

Illinois State Board of Elections The State Board of Elections (SBE) is an independent agency of the U.S. state of Illinois. The SBE, as an acronym, refers both to the eight-member bipartisan board of directors and to the agency that it oversees. The members of the SBE, who are ...

Citizens for Emil Jones
campaign committee filings (including donors) at the

— father's campaign fund; Jones III was treasurer until 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Emil, 3 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 1978 births African-American Catholics African-American state legislators in Illinois Catholics from Illinois Chicago State University alumni Democratic Party Illinois state senators Living people Politicians from Chicago Robert Morris University Illinois alumni 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly