Charles Jones has lived in Douglas County since 1976 and served on the county commission since first elected in 1998. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Biology from the University of Kansas and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He has served as Director of the KU Public Management Center since 2003. He lives with wife Carol and their dogs in the historic Pinckney Neighborhood of Lawrence.

The following values guide his public-policy decisions:

• neighborhoods are the building blocks of community;
• quality of life and economic development must go hand-in-hand;
• growth should be well conceived, consistent with community planning efforts, thoughtful and self-supporting;
• government works best when community interests have a fair, proportionate voice in the process; and
• it is both wise and proper for government to address market failures and the needs of disenfranchised populations.

For recreation, Jones enjoys fly-fishing, woodworking, playing ukulele and reading history.