Peter A. Jones
Peter A. Jones is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and serves as Director of Research and Curriculum for the Alabama Public Service Training Initiative. His research examines public budgeting and financial management in state and local governments, with a growing focus on courts and the use of fines and fees as revenue tools. Across his work, Jones applies a public finance lens to understand how legal financial obligations shape government behavior and community outcomes.
He is a principal investigator on multiple funded projects examining the fiscal and policy implications of legal financial obligations, and his scholarship also examines the real-world impacts of fines and fees, including research on driver’s license suspensions and their consequences for employment and economic mobility. In addition, he has partnered with national organizations to produce applied research on how fines and fees systems affect state and local revenues.