Steven Jones, a former state official who served a federal prison sentence for bribery, has been named the director of a newly created Business and Community Relations Department in the city of West Memphis.
Mayor Marco McClendon on Monday announced the appointment of Jones. He also named Tawana Bailey as the city's new community outreach director. Bailey had been the West Memphis Police Department's outreach coordinator.
McClendon said in a news release that the department was created at no additional cost to taxpayers. The new department fulfills a promise he made when he took office this year "to strengthen the relationship" between the city and its residents, business owners, parks and neighborhoods.
"By creating this department, we will do just that, leveraging our existing resources to serve our community effectively and efficiently by strengthening community involvement and citizen engagement."
Jones is a former state legislator, serving from 1998 to December 2004. He was named a deputy director of the Arkansas Department of Human Services in 2007. He left the department in July 2013 to work for Southern Bancorp Community Partners as senior vice president of programs.
In 2014, Jones pleaded guilty to conspiracy and bribery in connection with a federal investigation that led to the 2016 indictment and conviction for bribery of Ted Suhl, a mental health provider whose companies received federal funds from the state.
Suhl was sentenced to seven years in federal prison. President Donald Trump commuted Suhl's sentence in July.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.