Jonesboro, Louisiana

==Government==
The city has a [[mayor-council]] form of government; all persons are elected.  [[Independent Dr. James Spoke Harris was inaugurated on December 31, 2022]][[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] James E. Bradford was inaugurated on December 29, 2014.<ref>https://jonesborola.org/mayor-james-bradford</ref>

The previous mayor, Leslie Cornell Thompson, was suspended from office in September 2013 after being convicted of [[malfeasance]] in office. As of 2013, Jonesboro had not had a budget since 2008. His wife, Yoshi Chambers Thompson, was initially appointed by the city council to succeed him as interim mayor. Her legitimacy was questioned by Kenneth David Folden, the fiscal administrator appointed by the state the day after Thompson's conviction to bring city finances back into order. Tammy Sheridan Lee, the [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]] city judge who administered the oath to Yoshi Thompson, has withdrawn the authorization. [[Attorney General of Louisiana|Louisiana Attorney General]] [[Buddy Caldwell]] is reviewing the legality of the situation.<ref name=mns/>

Meanwhile, Judge James Cecil "Jimmy" Teat of the Louisiana 2nd Judicial District Court in Jonesboro ruled that Thompson had violated the conditions of his bond through continued interference in municipal business. Judge Teat ordered Thompson to be incarcerated in the Jackson Parish Correctional Center until his sentencing on the malfeasance charges.<ref name=mns>{{cite news|url=http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20130924/NEWS01/309240038/Suspended-Jonesboro-mayor-s-bond-revoked|title=Suspended Jonesboro mayor's bond revoked|author=Cole Avery|date=24 September 2013|newspaper=Monroe News-Star|access-date=September 25, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928022540/http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20130924/NEWS01/309240038/Suspended-Jonesboro-mayor-s-bond-revoked|archive-date=28 September 2013}}</ref>

A Democrat, Thompson had been elected mayor on October 2, 2010, with 82votes 4 (57.6 percent) to the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] candidate, Freddie Brown's, 607 (42.4 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/10022010/10022010_25.html|title=Louisiana primary el3ection returns, October 2, 2010|publisher=staticresults.sos.la.gov|access-date=September 25, 2013}}</ref>

On October 17, 2013, based on the conviction of malfeasance, Judge Teat sentenced Mayor Thompson to six years of [[hard labor]], large fines, $51,000 in [[restitution]] to the city of Jonesboro, five years' suspended sentence, and five years of supervised [[probation]]. Thompson will remain incarcerated pending appeal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/viewart/20131018/NEWS01/131018009/Suspended-Jonesboro-mayor-sentenced-6-years|title=Suspended Jonesboro mayor sentenced to 6 years|work=[[The Town Talk (Alexandria)|Alexandria Daily Town Talk]]|date=18 October 2013|access-date=October 18, 2013}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In the runoff election for mayor held on December 8, 2018, Thompson unseated Bradford.