Missouri woman facing possible six months in jail for a year old speeding ticket she already paid and served jail time for

Last year, Precious Jones was driving to visit her sister in Kansas City during Mother’s Day weekend, but when she put the pedal to the metal, she ended up clocking in at 120 mph

Kia Morgan Smith

Nov 27, 2018

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A Missouri woman is living a nightmare that all started with a trip to her sister’s house gone wrong.

Last year, Precious Jones was driving to visit her sister in Kansas City during Mother’s Day weekend, but when she put the pedal to the metal, she ended up clocking in at 120 mph and that resulted in her getting pulled over by the local police. She was issued a speeding ticket, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports.

Jones, 34, didn’t think much about the routine ticket issued by the Missouri Highway Patrol, except that she did however, forget to attend her court hearing in August in Lafayette County, which ultimately opened up a world of trouble.

“It slipped my mind,” she said.

Jones believed she did her due diligence by turning herself into police, because of the warrant issued. She paid her bond and set up a new court date. On top of that, she took driver education classes and even completed community service. She found an attorney to take her case and she agreed to pay a higher fine so that her driver’s license wouldn’t suffer with added points assessed against it.

Jones pleaded guilty in May to the Class B misdemeanor of speeding at least 26 mph over the speed limit.

However, once you’re in the system, there’s no guarantee of an easy outcome, she soon found out.

Associate Circuit Court Judge Kelly Rose still somehow gave Jones a six-month jail sentence and two years probation.

There was one caveat that could keep Jones out of jail: if she agreed to “shock time” in jail and spend 20 days by serving on consecutive weekends.

“She just threw the book at me,” Jones said. “I could have gotten this deal myself. Why did I pay $300 for a lawyer?”

However, getting to jail wouldn’t prove easy since Jones’ license was suspended. She begged people for rides to Lafayette County Jail. Still there was one day she was late trying to get there after work. Then in June her car broke down. She called the jail and let them know the situation. She made it to the jail the next day, but they held her in jail for two days.

In July, Jones was done with all of the requirements that were attached to her punishment, so she thought.

By September, the jail had sent out a warrant for her arrest because of that time she was late to her weekend jail time appointment.

Prosecutor Kristen Hilbrenner wanted her probation revoked.

Jones not only has a warrant out for her arrest, with a $2,500 bond, she’s facing a six-month jail sentence and her attorney James Worthington, of Higginsville, backed out of representing her because it’s a parole violation.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Jones says. “They are just not going to let me go.”

The St. Louis Dispatch contends that Jones is an example of a larger problem plaguing low income people trapped in Missouri’s criminal justice system:

“Jones is an example of a wide spread problem in Missouri’s rural courts, in which in too many situations, especially when the defendant is poor, the system seems to look for reasons to cite probation violations in misdemeanor cases, and tie people to the court system for years, in an effort to increase local revenue.”

“I’m losing everything,” Jones said. “They keep coming back for more. They’re trying to milk me for all I’ve got.” She is now in touch with a speeding ticket lawyer to ensure that she has already served her time and that the court won’t cite unnecessary violations again.