Oklahoma Assistant Attorney General Mark Jones to Lead Client Advocacy Office at Human Services

OKLAHOMA CAPITOL --- Oklahoma Assistant Attorney General Mark Lawton Jones has been named Advocate General for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services Office of Client Advocacy, effective Sept. 1.
Jones, who has been in the Attorney General’s Office for nearly 13 years, is no stranger to OKDHS. While working on behalf of many state agencies through the AG’s office, he has served as lead counsel for OKDHS in the Hissom class action lawsuit, which came to an end in February 2005 after 19 years of litigation.

“We are delighted that Mark will be assuming this tremendous responsibly in our organization,” said OKHDS Director Howard H. Hendrick. “It would be impossible to find a better fit for the leadership of our client advocacy efforts.“

Current state mandates require that the person in this position be a licensed attorney. The OKDHS Office of Client Advocacy and the advocate general position were established in 1983.

The mission of the office remains to serve as an independent investigative body to address client concerns, reporting their findings to the Oklahoma Commission for Human Services and the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth. The office gives clients who need a voice an independent avenue to review the quality of the care they receive.

Jones worked three years as a law clerk in the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals before going to the AG’s office in 1993.

He was an attorney in private practice for eight years in Okmulgee from 1982-90. During that time, he also served as a municipal judge for the city of Morris, Oklahoma from 1986-90.

Jones earned his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Oklahoma in 1977 and 1980, respectively.

Jones has been married to his wife, Lynn who is also an attorney, for 13 years, and they have two children.

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