Charges of domestic violence and dubious business associations have placed Clark County Family Court Judge Steven Jones firmly in the cross hairs of scandal.
A review of campaign finance reports filed between 1992 and 2006 now raises questions about his political discretion.
The disclosures signed by Jones document:
• Three election contributions from the spouse of an embattled subordinate that have raised questions about conflict of interest. Three months after Jones recommended suspending instead of firing Family Court Hearing Master Sylvia Beller in a 2004 disciplinary matter, husband Neil Beller is reported to have made three separate contributions for a total of $4,500 to his campaign.
• An apparent violation of the state's Code of Judicial Conduct made by another judge who contributed to Jones. Senior Judge James Brennan gave $500 to Jones in 2004. In 2002, an advisory opinion issued by a judicial review body found such contributions are tantamount to endorsements.
• Thousands of dollars of indebtedness to Tom Cecrle, a former brother-in-law and close associate whose legal troubles reflect on Jones at a time when the FBI is questioning his ties to people with criminal histories. In July, when Cecrle faced bad check charges in Las Vegas Justice Court, Jones accompanied him to the hearing in a show of support. Cecrle faces two felony criminal cases and has been the subject of at least five financial demands or judgments in District Court in recent years.
Jones, however, is determined to weather the heightened scrutiny turned on him by recent events and said through his attorney James Jimmerson that he has no plans to turn in his robes.
"He is absolutely not going to resign," Jimmerson said. "He's done nothing to warrant that. That he's excellent as a Family Court judge is known countywide."
Jones' latest troubles began in June, after he was arrested and jailed by Henderson police. It was the fourth time in four years police were called to intervene in family fights at the home.
Jones was charged with battering his girlfriend, Amy McNair, and now faces a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery in Henderson Municipal Court. McNair and Jones have since signed a legal order asking the court to rescind a no contact order. Jimmerson said at the time that the two were considering reunification.
BELLER CONTRIBUTIONS
Jones, who has earned high marks in surveys from the lawyers who appear before him, is in his third term as a Family Court judge. He also was presiding judge in 2004, which made him Sylvia Beller's day-to-day supervisor at a time when she sparked controversy by inappropriately ordering a juvenile to disrobe in court.
Charles Short, executive administrator for Clark County District Court, said the consequences for a hearing master in Beller's situation range from suspension to termination. Sylvia Beller had earned a previous suspension for berating an attorney for his attire. It was Jones who recommended a second suspension for Beller and reassigned her to handling cases that do not involve juveniles.
Neil Beller and Jimmerson both said that the campaign contributions were in no way related to Sylvia Beller's disciplinary situation. Neil Beller, who is not listed as a donor to Jones in previous elections, said the matter never was discussed when Jones was weighing what action to take against his wife.
"I raise and I give money to those people whom I think are doing a good job," said Beller, an attorney. "My wife does not get involved in my fundraising or donations."
Craig Walton, president of the Nevada Center for Public Ethics, questioned the appropriateness of Jones taking election donations from the husband of someone who is a subordinate, calling it a "cross-wiring of obligations."
"You want to have an appropriate, arms-length relationship with the people that you supervise," Walton said.
Beller said he did not recall if Jones had solicited the donations or if he made the offer without being asked. He also could not reconcile the discrepancy between his records and Jones' campaign finance report. Beller said his records show he wrote two checks to Jones for a total of $3,500, one on Nov. 15, 2004, and another on Nov. 23, 2004. Jones' campaign finance report for that period reports that Beller made three contributions amounting to $4,500 in essentially the same time frame.
Jimmerson conveyed Jones' position that there was nothing inappropriate about the donations and emphasized the contributions were made after disciplinary action against Sylvia Beller already had been taken. Jones did not think it was a conflict of interest to accept the donations, Jimmerson said.
Jimmerson also said that Jones pointed out his recommendation for Sylvia Beller's discipline was affirmed by the state's Commission on Judicial Discipline.
"He thought that he'd taken a very firm position with her," Jimmerson said.
Jimmerson also said that before Jones solicited campaign contributions in 2004, the judge checked with the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline to clarify whether he could collect funds both before and after the election. All of Jones' reported contributions for that year were made after the election, in which Jones ran unopposed.
In September 2004, Jones wrote a letter to the Review-Journal about the Beller incidents, saying that appropriate action had been taken.
"Ms. Beller has been properly and severely disciplined for actions that did not reflect on the standards of this court," Jones wrote. "Master Beller has, nevertheless, served the court admirably for over 13 years and deserved the opportunity to correct her past indiscretions."
Jones' efforts at substantial fundraising for his Family Court campaigns peaked in 2004. A campaign finance report filed with Clark County on Jan. 11, 2006, shows that Jones has $47,850 in his election fund, most of which was raised in the weeks after his 2004 election. Jimmerson said that he has seen a bank statement that verifies that balance in Jones' campaign fund. Jones' seat in Family Court is up for election in 2010.
Earlier reports show Jones receiving donations from a small number of contributors, including Jimmerson. The finance reports show that during Jones' first run for the bench in 1992, most of the $23,158 in contributions he received were in amounts that did not require the identification of the donor.
In the 1998 Family Court election, Jones reported only minimal fundraising, identifying donations of $2,400. That changed two years ago, when Jones' Family Court election fund was transformed from a shoestring to a modest post-election war chest.
Attorney Laura Fitzsimmons, who does not practice family law, said she donated $5,000 to Jones.
"He called me and asked me for a donation," said Fitzsimmons, a generous contributor to judicial campaigns. "I was glad to do it." Fitzsimmons, who said she is appalled by the circumstances Jones now finds himself in, said she asked why Jones needed the money since he was unopposed that year.
"He expressed to me that he wanted it because he was thinking of a Supreme Court race in the future, or some other race," Fitzsimmons said.
Jones unsuccessfully sought a Nevada Supreme Court seat in 1996, raising $442,503.61 for the effort and spending a reported $433,297.69.
His campaign was damaged by an episode of domestic violence that led police to arrest his then-wife, Deborah Jones, who was five months pregnant at the time. According to Henderson police, Deborah Jones hit her husband with a shower rod and a floral arrangement.
BRENNAN DONATION
Jones' 2004 campaign finance reports also document Brennan's $500 contribution, contrary to an advisory opinion from the Nevada Standing Committee on Judicial Ethics and Election Practices. The opinion says that no judge or judicial candidate "may contribute to any political candidate in an amount subject to public disclosure as such a contribution constitutes a public endorsement prohibited by the Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct."
Brennan said he was unaware of that opinion. Jimmerson said that Jones was not aware of it either. Brennan, who said the error was his if indeed such a contribution is prohibited, was critical of the Standing Committee for not disseminating the opinion more widely. Brennan also cited section 5-C of the code that he said permits judges to donate to "political organizations."
"What is the 'Association to Re-elect Steve Jones' if not a political organization?" Brennan asked.
David Sarnowski, executive director and general counsel for both the state's Standing Committee on Judicial Ethics and Election Practices and the Commission on Judicial Discipline, said that if the amount in question has to be declared on a candidate disclosure form, then the opinion applies to both full-time judges and senior judges.
In that circumstance, "judges can't donate to other political candidates," Sarnowski said.
Sarnowski declined to address Brennan's position specifically, but said that the advisory opinion is clear. "It says what it says. There may be people who have a difference of opinion."
Sarnowski said that such violations are investigated privately if formal complaints are made to the commission. Some complaints, if substantiated, go on to public hearings.
ENTANGLEMENT
Some of Jones' most problematic entanglements shown in public documents are his layered ties and historical indebtedness to Cecrle. The state requires candidates for public office to disclose to whom they owe more than $5,000. In addition to Cecrle, Jones named his parents, Visa and Mastercard as creditors on his financial disclosures.
Cecrle is named as a creditor to the judge in financial disclosure statements filed with the state in 1996, 2001 and 2004. In 1996, Jones also reports Cecrle as a campaign employee.
Jones told Jimmerson that his debt to Cecrle had been repaid as of 2005.
The election documents filed by Jones for his 1996 Supreme Court race also show that Cecrle was a paid campaign employee, receiving $1,500 on Nov. 1, 1996.
Cecrle has been embroiled in at least five financial demands in District Court during the past five years. His legal problems also include an April 12 arrest, when Henderson police charged him with assaulting his ex-wife at the Rainbow Casino and methamphetamine possession.
In the past, Jones has interceded in financial disputes on Cecrle's behalf. And last month, Jones appeared with Cecrle in Las Vegas Justice Court during a hearing on Cecrle's bad check charges.
Jones' appearance in the company of Cecrle raised the eyebrows of other legal professionals present, who questioned why Jones would do so when federal agents are inquiring into his ties to individuals with felony convictions.
Last month, during a hearing for a protective order, his girlfriend, McNair, testified that federal agents had questioned her about that topic. FBI agents also attended the hearing.
Jimmerson said Jones was simply being supportive.
"He wanted to make sure that Mr. Cecrle made his appearance," Jimmerson said. "He wanted to help him do the right thing."
Jones also is tied to a 2003 financial dispute between Cecrle and Las Vegas investor Gene Isaacs. Isaacs claims that he lost $800,000 in a real estate deal involving Cecrle.
Jones intervened, Isaacs said, and drew up a $2 million confession of judgment that Isaacs and Cecrle signed. If Cecrle failed to make payment, the document, an admission of liability, could be filed with the court. The document was notarized in October 2003 by Jones' assistant and Cecrle has not made good on it.
Isaacs said he didn't know if Jones was indebted to Cecrle at the time the judge mediated the confession of judgment in his chambers.
"If he was, he didn't disclose that," Isaacs said.
Isaacs also said that Jones signed a $500,000 promissory note that Cecrle gave him as security against a $37,500 loan. Isaacs said that Jones denied signing the note, saying that his signature had been forged.
Jimmerson has acknowledged the financial conflicts between Cecrle and Isaacs, but said that the matter is between those two individuals. Jones, Jimmerson said in a previous Review-Journal story, is not responsible for Cecrle's personal business dealings.
In July, it was also reported that Jones once had tried to start a juvenile rehabilitation program with help from a felon, D. Victor Hancock, who was also tied to a real estate company that listed Jones as its treasurer.
The high-profile incidents involving Jones already have taken a toll on his professional career. He resigned last month as the presiding judge for Family Court, a leadership position now held by Judge Art Ritchie, and is not able to hear cases involving domestic violence.
Jimmerson said that Jones is innocent of the domestic battery charge that will be heard on Sept. 13 in Henderson Municipal Court.
James Hulse, director of Common Cause of Nevada, said the issues raised by Jones' campaign finance disclosures are an example of why the state needs to reform the way judicial elections are conducted.
Judges should not be able to collect contributions if they run unopposed, Hulse said, and he has serious ethical concerns about a judge accepting contributions from the spouse of someone he supervises.
"That's really just totally inappropriate and shouldn't be permitted," Hulse said.
