LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones will not lose his license to practice law, but will endure a public reprimand from the State Bar of Nevada, a panel decided Monday evening.
Jones was accused of improperly deleting text messages related to a controversial housing development proposal near Red Rock Canyon, messages that were sought by lawyers suing the county over the stalled plan.
Watch the conclusion to Jones' lengthy legal battle
In addition, Bar attorneys accused Jones of bribery over an offer he made to then Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak: the endorsement of environmental groups in exchange for a delay in a key vote on the housing development.
They sought to disbar Jones for life, costing him his ability to practice law.
But the three-member Bar panel instead concluded that Jones deserved a suspension of his law license, a recommendation they softened after hearing about Jones's pro bono legal work and testimony about his character from prominent members of the community.
Jones 'doesn't deserve to stand among us'
Bar Counsel Dan Hooge led the charge against Jones, urging the panel in his closing arguments Monday to protect the public and the profession by imposing the harshest possible punishment on Jones.
"Discipline is not an act of vengeance, it's a shield of protection," Hooge said. "A single lawyer's misconduct casts a shadow over us all."
Hooge pointed out that state and federal judges concluded that Jones was untruthful when he said he didn't recall deleting text messages related to the Red Rock development. Hooge said Jones erased the messages to cover up his endorsements-for-delay offer to Sisolak.
"We don't have all the evidence, but what we have is plenty strong," he said. "To this day, he has never told you the truth."
At the end of the day, Hooge urged the panel to protect the legal profession as well by expelling Jones. "Justin Jones doesn't deserve to stand among us," Hooge said. "You must disbar him of you're telling every lawyer out there you can dodge the truth ... and walk away with a wink and a shrug."
'Dumb,' 'dorky' — but not criminal
Jones's attorney, former District Court Judge Rob Bare, acknowledged that Jones had deleted the texts, but said it was part of a "political cleansing" after taking a key vote on the housing project.
▶ Watch Attorney: Commissioner Justin Jones deleted texts as part of 'political cleansing'
Jones had opposed development at Red Rock, first as a private attorney representing the group Save Red Rock, and later as a elected Clark County commissioner. Specifically, Jones and the rest of the commission voted not to waive development conditions that had stalled the project, prompting the developer to sue the county.
The missing text messages — which Bare said were "dump" and "dorky" — caused judges to conclude that Jones had acted improperly, which put Clark County at a disadvantage in the lawsuit with the developer. Ultimately, the county ended up paying developer Jim Rhodes and his Gypsum Resources company $80 million to settle the matter.
Bare acknowledged deleting the messages caused problems in court and told the panel that's what Jones should be punished for doing, if anything. But he vehemently denied Jones had tried to bribe anyone.
"If he committed bribery, disbar him," Bare told the panel. "The problem is, he didn't commit felony bribery. He didn't commit a felony. He didn't commit bribery."
Bare said since no money was involved, Jones's proposal to Sisolak was simply politics. And he pointed to testimony that Sisolak was going to vote against the project anyway, regardless of any endorsements.
"It's silly. The felony is silly. Beyond silly," Bare said. "The political things, there's a place to address that. It's called the ballot box."
Jones — who was first elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022 — is eligible for a third and final term on the commission in 2026. He hasn't announced whether he'll seek re-election yet.
Reprimand on the record
After almost two hours of deliberations, panel chairman Andrew Chiu announced the verdicts. He said the panel found no bribery had taken place, and that Jones's dealings with Sisolak were just normal politics.
"Bribery did not occur," Chu said. "It was, in fact, political activity."
Jones was untruthful, however, in some statements he made to the state Ethics Commission when he sought that group's permission to vote on the housing development plan. And the panel found that the conclusions of judges that Jones improperly deleted his texts were persuasive.
Chu said the panel believed Jones's behavior merited a suspension of his law license, but chose to drop that punishment to a public reprimand instead because Jones had no discipline on his record up until now, that he suffered from personal problems including depression, that he cooperated with the Bar investigation and that he'd done pro bono work in the community.
The panel was also persuaded by character witnesses, including former Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, the executive director of the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada. Buckley said Jones was helpful during a guardianship crisis, helping victims for free.
The panel did conclude there was harm done to the legal system, but that it was "moderate." It said Jones would be under special scrutiny for the next six months and cautioned him to avoid trouble.
WATCH | Clark County Commissioner Jones' legal career at a crossroads
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