Forsyth County Soil and Water Conservation District board member arrested

Forsyth County Soil and Water Conservation District Board Member Edward Jones was arrested Monday and charged with election fraud, failure to register his address as a sex offender and failure to appear in court. 

Jones was convicted of a sex offense involving a 15-year-old child in New Jersey in 2001, when he was 31-years-old. 

Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill says the election fraud charges stem from evidence that Jones didn’t disclose that he was a felon when he filed to run for a seat on the Soil and Water District Board.

“The public needed to have that information prior to November so that they could make a good decision," he says. "But it is a slap in the face for the rest of us that are doing what we're supposed to be doing when we fill out those candidacy forms.”

Jones is also accused of running for office and voting in Forsyth County while residing in Davie County. 

The charges don’t appear to automatically disqualify him from his seat. O’Neill says the Soil and Water Board of Supervisors can vote to remove him from office if he misses three consecutive meetings. So far, he says Jones has attended each one. 

Jones is currently being held at the Forsyth County Detention Center under $100,000 bond.