When Sixth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Will Jones first ran for the office in 2022, a dark money group called Fair Courts America sent out some nasty mailers attacking Jones’ opponent in the race. When the mailers were sent, no public information was available showing who was behind the group. (As it turned out, those mailers were bankrolled in large part by ultra-conservative poultry magnate Ronald Cameron, who has a track record of supporting awful candidates.)
Four years later, Jones looks to be the beneficiary of another dark money offensive. Multiple voters in Central Arkansas yesterday reported receiving a text from a group called Citizens for Freedom, singing Jones’ praises and crediting him with reducing crime in Little Rock.
Screenshot of text received by a Central Arkansas voter.
Though it is similar in tone to Jones’ recent attempts to claim credit for reduction in crime in Little Rock, the text is explicit that it is not affiliated with Jones or his campaign. It also omits recent data showing that, while crime is generally down nationally, Little Rock was one of only a handful of cities where murder rates rose in 2025.
With Jones’ illicit affair with his former chief deputy continuing to draw attention and his opponent, Bobby Forrest Jr., gaining endorsements and support from several former prosecutors, this pro-Jones text message seems designed to change the narrative. That it was sent out on the same date that former prosecutors were scheduled to hold a high-profile fundraiser for Forrest is also likely not a coincidence, though that fundraiser was rescheduled for Feb. 12 due to this week’s weather.
No information exists on the Arkansas Secretary of State’s website regarding Citizens for Freedom, though state offices have been closed all week due to weather, so it is possible that something has been submitted and hasn’t been uploaded yet. Regardless, at this point it’s impossible to say who sent these texts. In theory, the group will eventually file the required documents, though such groups sometimes rely on contributions from PACs that are also difficult to penetrate, so it’s possible we’ll never know where this came from.
The Arkansas Times reached out to Jones for comment on the text message, but he did not immediately respond.
