Jim Ross was elected to the office of Mayor at the City of Arlington in June 2021. Jim has spent decades serving his community and his country.  As a proud resident of Arlington for forty years, he has witnessed the growth, and growing pains, this community has endured.

From 1979 to 1983, Jim served this country as a United States Marine. With assignments at home and abroad, he served the Marines in numerous capacities.  Having received his Honorable Discharge in 1983, Jim moved to Texas where he was soon hired by the Arlington Police Department.

During his thirteen-year career as a Police Officer, Jim was a member of Arlington’s first full time Special Operations Unit (SWAT), taught self-defense and physical fitness at the police academy and spent over six years investigating illegal narcotics trafficking, both locally and with the Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force.  His commendations and accomplishments as a Marine and police officer are numerous.

In 1996, Jim decided to make a career change and go to law school, which he completed in twenty-eight months.  He studied and passed the State of Texas Bar exam on his first attempt and was licensed as an attorney in May 1999.  During his first ten years of practice, Jim represented thousands of clients while working environmental exposure cases for some of the country’s most prestigious law firms. In 2009, Jim left the larger firms to pursue private practice and established The Jim Ross Law Group, P.C.

In November 2017, Jim opened the Mercury Chophouse – Arlington, a fine dining steakhouse. In 2023, he opened the Hearsay Arlington lounge and restaurant in Choctaw Stadium.

As an active and proud resident of Arlington, Jim has served on the board of directors for the Arlington Police Foundation, the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce, the Margarita Society, Special Olympics, and the American Heart Association and he is a member of the American Legion.  As Mayor, he serves on the boards of the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation, Gene and Jerry Jones Family Arlington Youth Foundation, Texas Municipal League, and National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation; as a member of the Tarrant County Workforce Governing Board, North Central Texas Council of Governments’ Regional Transportation Council, Tarrant Regional Transportation Council,  and Downtown Arlington Management Corporation; and is the co-chair of the US Conference of Mayors’ Infrastructure Law Implementation Task Force and the Veterans Affairs Task Force.

More than a passionate lawyer, businessman, and advocate for all, Jim is a family man with four children and five grandchildren.