Jay Jones reckless driving investigation transferred to Roanoke district attorney

The ongoing investigation into the reckless driving arrest of Virginia Democratic candidate Jay Jones and the resulting 1,000 hours of service has now been moved to its third jurisdiction – 200 miles across the state.

New Kent County Commonwealth’s Attorney Scott Renick was the initial lead prosecutor in the case – before recusing himself last week in an opinion to Judge Elliott Bondurant – who then appointed James City County Commonwealth’s Attorney Nathan Green to continue the investigation.

Jones was initially arrested in 2022 in New Kent for going 116 mph on the notorious straight-arrow stretch of Interstate 64 between Charles City and the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.

Bondurant has since signed a new recusal of Green and returned the case from Williamsburg to Roanoke.

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Known for its famous Mill Mountain Star atop a leafy stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway, its contemporary downtown and its industrial history remembered through iconic neon signs dotting its skyline, Roanoke sits in very different boundaries from where Jones’ original case took place.

New Kent and James City counties are staunchly Republican, while Roanoke stands out in stark contrast with a dark blue circle on the map surrounded by dark red Roanoke County and conservative New River Valley.

Star City’s top prosecutor, Donald Caldwell, is a Democrat-turned-independent who is also the longest-serving commonwealth’s attorney in Virginia, serving since 1979. He will resign after his current term, according to reports.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Caldwell’s office for a statement on his office’s handling of the case.

Green formally informed Bondurant on Thursday that he would recuse himself because it would be “inappropriate” for him to lead the investigation into Jones, without elaborating.

Jones most recently represented the neighboring town of Norfolk in the state Legislature, then worked for the town’s Protogyrou law firm, which represented him in his reckless driving case.

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The Mill Mountain Star doest the Roanoke, Virginia skyline. (Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images)

Bondurant’s latest order, obtained by the Newport News Daily Pressremanded the case to Roanoke in order to make it geographically remote from the Ninth Judicial Circuit – which includes both the original jurisdictions and the Northern Neck of Virginia.

The move to Roanoke did just that, as Star City is four hours due west on US-460.

Questions have been raised about the validity or details of Jones’ 1,000 hours of community service — split equally between his own political action committee: Meet Our Moment and the Virginia NAACP.

Representatives from both organizations submitted sworn documents obtained by Fox News Digital attesting to the work Jones allegedly did, but no time logs or other documents have been released or made available because that time frame amounts to nearly 20 hours per week during the case — whose hearings have been repeatedly delayed.

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The affidavits were also lacking in specifics, as the Rev. Cozy Bailey — head of the state NAACP chapter — wrote that Jones “provided support in a variety of ways that greatly benefited our organization.”

A Freedom of Information Act request for records and communications between New Kent County and the signers of Jones’ Hours returned notification Tuesday that the records could not be shared because of a section of Virginia code showing they would interfere with a particular ongoing criminal investigation or proceed in a “particularly identifiable manner.”