Shannon Roers Jones
Member of the North Dakota House of Representatives
from the 46th district
Assumed office
2016
Preceded byKathy Hawken
Personal details
BornFargo, North Dakota, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Children3
Parent
EducationCollege of St. Benedict (BA)
University of St. Thomas (MBA)
University of North Dakota (JD)

Shannon Roers Jones is an American attorney and politician. She served in the North Dakota House of Representatives from the 46th district since December 1, 2016. She was the North Dakota House Republican Caucus Chairperson from 2019 to 2021.

Early life and education

Roers Jones was born to Debby and Jim Roers in Fargo, North Dakota and lived in Horace for most of her early life. Her father is CEO of Roers Construction, a company he formed in 1976. She studied business in college, earning a Bachelor of Arts from the College of St. Benedict in 1999 and an MBA from University of St. Thomas in 2001. She then earned a Juris Doctor from University of North Dakota School of Law in 2011.[1]

Career

Roers Jones started her career working for multiple construction firms and in the real estate industry. After law school, she began working as a real estate Attorney as well as the main attorney in her father's business.[1]

Electoral history

Roers Jones first ran for office in 2016, when she ran for the house seat for district 46 as the Republican successor to retiring incumbent Kathy Hawken. She won with 28.64% of the vote.[2]

2020 General Election for North Dakota House of Representatives District 46[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Shannon Roers Jones (incumbent) 3,974 27.77% -0.87
Republican James Kasper (incumbent) 3,632 25.38% -0,44
Democratic Ben M Hanson 3,349 23.40% N/A
Democratic Ben W Hanson 3,346 23.38% N/A
Other Write-ins 11 0.08% N/A
Total votes 14,312 100.0% N/A
Republican hold
2016 General Election for North Dakota House of Representatives District 46[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Shannon Roers Jones 3,732 28.59% N/A
Republican James Kasper (incumbent) 3,364 25.77% -2,42
Democratic Kiersten Diederich 3,137 24.03% N/A
Democratic Dan Fisher 2,797 21.40% N/A
Other Write-ins 24 0.18% N/A
Total votes 13,054 100.0% N/A
Republican hold

Political positions

Work on Sunday

In 2017, Shannon Roers Jones spearheaded the push to repeal the last remnants of North Dakota's Blue laws. The 2017 bill failed.[5] In 2019 she again sponsored the bill which would make it legal for stores to be open on Sundays before noon. In 2019, her bill passed both the House and the Senate[5] and was signed onto law by Governor Doug Burgum, and went into effect on August 1, 2019.[6]

Marijuana and criminal justice

Roers Jones opposes legalization of recreational marijuana. However, in 2019, she sponsored a bill calling for the decriminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana (less than one ounce or less than 6 ounce). Under this bill, people found with small amounts of marijuana would still pay a fine, but it would not show up in their criminal records. This bill would also have expunged the criminal records of various non-violent and non-sex offenders.[7] The bill failed to pass the ND House.[8]

Personal life

Roers Jones lives in south Fargo with her three daughters Olivia, Kendall, and Kate.[9] Her father Jim was elected to the North Dakota State Senate in 2016, the year she was also elected to the ND House of Representative. They both represent the 46th District. In 2018, her cousin Kristin Roers was also elected to the ND State Senate. She represents the 27th district.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 "About Roers | Roers | Building Success". Roers. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  2. ↑ North Dakota Secretary of State. "Official Results General Election - November 8, 2016". results.sos.nd.gov. Archived from the original on 2017-04-19. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  3. ↑ "2020 General Election Results". results.sos.nd.gov. North Dakota Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 2020-11-23.
  4. ↑ "2016 General Election Results". results.sos.nd.gov. North Dakota Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 2017-04-19.
  5. 1 2 "North Dakota Legislature repeals Sunday morning shopping ban". Associated Press. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  6. ↑ Jan 17th 2019 - 4pm, John Hageman |. "How they voted: North Dakota House passes repeal of Sunday morning shopping ban". INFORUM. Retrieved 2020-03-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ Emerson, Blair. "Pro-marijuana group to try again with ballot measure, lawmakers work on related bills". Bismarck Tribune. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  8. ↑ Hageman, John (April 24, 2019). "Marijuana decriminalization backer disappointed by North Dakota House-Senate compromise". Grand Forks Herald. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  9. ↑ "About". www.shannonroersjones.com. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  10. ↑ "Words of wisdom from 2 lawmakers". Sanford Health News. 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
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