LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones told a three-person panel deciding whether to disbar him that he made a “stupid mistake” when he wiped his phone clean of text messages related to a lawsuit over a proposed real estate development.
“I would ask for your mercy,” Jones said Tuesday evening, in the second day of a three-day disciplinary hearing which will determine the future of Jones’ law license. “If I’m being honest, your mercy. I made a stupid mistake. And it’s haunted me for years now. And I hope you’ll see it that way. That it was a mistake and not an intentional act to deceive.”
But in two separate complaints, the state bar counsel accuses Jones of purposely deleting text messages in April 2019 to hide them and also to hide his efforts to bribe then-commissioner – and eventual Democratic Governor – Steve Sisolak in an effort to block a real estate development project near Red Rock Canyon. Ultimately the county settled a lawsuit related to that project for $80 million.
“It is a criminal act to bribe an elected official,” state bar counsel Dan Hooge said Monday in his opening statements.
Wednesday, in the third day of testimony, Jones called several witnesses in his own defense to try to poke holes in the state bar’s case and to discuss his character. One of those witnesses, a well-known Las Vegas criminal defense attorney, testified that Jones did not bribe Sisolak.
“It would be legally impossible,” Gentile said, calling Jones’ dealings with Sisolak “purely political speech.”
The state bar counsel called a witness to rebut Gentile’s testimony. UNLV Law Professor Benjamin Edwards, who teaches classes on legal ethics, testified and submitted a written brief to the hearing panel outlining his argument that Jones bribed Sisolak.
“Mr. Jones is a member of the bar. He’s an officer of the court. He’s got serious obligations as an attorney to abide by the ethics rules.” Edwards continued: “When look at the conduct alleged in the complaint, I’m concerned because it is offering a public official a [benefit] in exchange for their official action.”
“On the whole, I find the conduct troubling,” Edwards said.
Jones, the commissioner for Clark County District F since 2018, is not criminally charged for any of what the bar alleges in its complaints. Even so, Edwards said the bar hearing panel could still discipline Jones if it found Jones bribed Sisolak.
“The mere fact of a criminal act is not enough,” Edwards said. “You’re really focused on what it means.”
The attorneys will give their closing arguments late Wednesday, and the hearing panel may issue its decision on to what extent it disciplines Jones by Wednesday night.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.