Jones was appointed Solicitor General of the Ocmulgee circuit in September 1817 and was Solicitor General of Georgia in 1823. He was one of the commissioners appointed to investigate the disturbances in the Creek Nation; in 1827, he moved to Columbus, Georgia, where he built his home El Dorado, later renamed St. Elmo. Jones was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third Congress, serving from March 4, 1833, to March 3, 1835. He later was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-ninth Congress, serving from March 4, 1845, to March 3, 1847. He died in Columbus, and was buried at Linwood Cemetery.