The chairman of the Mathews County Board of Supervisors has filed a $2.95 million lawsuit against the county and two former employees.

Board chairman David Jones, his brother George Jones, and their business, JB Property Development LLC, in a suit filed last Thursday, are making a claim of defamation of character and malicious prosecution against the county, former planning and zoning director Thomas Jenkins, and former building official Jamie Wilks. Their monetary request is for $2,250,450 in compensatory damages and $350,000 per defendant in punitive damages. They have asked for a jury trial.

In the suit, the Jones brothers state that they had a strong reputation in the community and surrounding areas for quality craftsmanship, timely completion of work and overall good business character before the events that they describe in the document. While Jones is currently an elected member of the board of supervisors, the suit states that he was not on the board at the time of the a...