Jones previously served twelve years in the Idaho House of Representatives which culminated in her being the first woman selected to chair the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. Jones is the first woman elected to serve as Idaho State Controller.

Donna M. Jones was born at Brush, Colorado on January 14, 1939. She spent her early childhood at Rago, Colorado, which is located on the northeastern plains of the state about 20 miles outside of Akron, Colorado. Her father, Virgil Dale “Jim” Wolfe, was a farmer and operated a country store with her mother, Margaret Elizabeth “Libby” Wolfe (McDaniel). “Libby” was also the post mistress in Rago, Colorado.

Jones is the youngest of three children. Her sister, Arlene, the middle child, died at the age of 9 in 1945. Her older brother Darrel “Doc” Wolfe resides in Payette, Idaho.

The Wolfe family moved to Middleton, Idaho in 1950 so “Doc” could attend college at the College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho, and to be closer to “Libby’s” sister who resided in Roswell, Idaho. In 1956 Donna married her high school sweetheart, Donald Jones.

She entered the workforce in 1958 as a sales consultant for the Party Plan Jewelry Company, selling Sarah Coventry jewelry. By 1959 she had moved into a management position, and was responsible for the sales training of new recruits in the Boise valley market.

In 1967 Donna and her husband Don purchased the local NAPA franchise in Payette, Idaho, Payette Auto Parts. In 1976 they expanded the business by opening a second auto parts store in New Plymouth, Idaho. They sold both stores in 1979.

In 1980 Jones was licensed to sell real estate in Idaho, and shortly afterwards in Oregon. By 1982 she had obtained brokerage licenses in both Idaho and Oregon. In 1984 Jones earned the GRI (Graduate of Realtors Institute) designation, and in 1987 she earned the CRS (Certified Residential Specialist) designation. In 1990 she opened her own real estate brokerage firm, ERA Preferred Properties, in Payette, Idaho. She retains her real estate brokerage license (on inactive status).

From October 1, 1998 through October 1, 2006, Jones served as Executive Director of the Idaho Real Estate Commission, the state regulatory body that educates, licenses, and regulates real estate licensees.

In November 1986, the people of Idaho approved H.J.R 4, which banned floterial districts. However, legislative district boundaries in Idaho were not changed until the legislature adopted the recommendations of the state’s redistricting committee, which was charged with using the decennial census results to redraw district boundaries prior to the 1992 election.

On April 20, 1987, Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus, a Democrat, appointed Jones, a Republican, to represent floterial District 13 in the Idaho House of Representatives. Jones replaced Mike Strasser, who had moved out of state for work-related reasons.