Virginia's Democratic Attorney General candidate Jay Jones was already in hot water politically over his old text fantasizing about murdering a Republican rival and his children, but now he may also be facing resurfaced legal trouble related to a reckless driving conviction a few years ago.

Recent activity in that case, which was presumably closed more than a year ago, indicates that there is actually an ongoing investigation of the matter, which has prompted renewed calls for Jones to drop out of the race, according to Fox News.

The exact subject of the apparently still-going probe is unclear, but local investigative reporting suggests that it could be related to possible false or misleading statements filed with the court about the community service he was ordered to serve.

Prosecutor recused and replaced

National Review reported that Jones was convicted in 2022 of reckless driving after he was clocked doing 116 mph in a 70 mph zone in New Kent County, for which he was sentenced to pay a $1,500 fine and serve 1,000 hours of community service.

In January 2024, Jones submitted two letters to the court to certify that he had completed the ordered voluntary service, with 500 of those hours served with a local chapter of the NAACP, and the other 500 hours with his own political action committee, Meet Our Moment, or MOM PAC.

While all of that was seemingly wrapped up at that time, National Review noted that new court filings under that case number reveal that New Kent County Commonwealth’s Attorney Scott Renick, citing an unspecified "potential conflict," asked to be recused from the case. That request was just granted by Judge Elliott Bondurant, who appointed James City County Commonwealth's Attorney Nathan Green as a replacement special prosecutor.

Miyares says Jones must drop out

The recent prosecutorial recusal and replacement in Jones' reckless driving case strongly suggest that at least part of it remains ongoing, which was duly noted by the Democratic candidate's Republican opponent, incumbent Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, who called for Jones to withdraw from the race.

"It is not possible for Jay Jones to fulfill the duties of the attorney general while under an open criminal investigation," Miyares told Fox News. "If Jay stays in the race, it shows a contempt for voters never seen in modern Virginia political history."

Miyares noted that Jones' resurfaced text messages about murdering a Republican rival and his kids were already disqualifying enough, and added, "Now we learn that he may have misled the courts to avoid jail time for recklessly driving 116mph. He has not taken accountability for his words or actions."

Jones may have misled the court

The National Review report observed that Judge Bondurant's order didn't disclose why the prosecutorial change was necessary, but noted that local investigative reporting from just a couple of weeks earlier may have figured out what is going on with Jones' ostensibly closed case.

According to local ABC affiliate WJLA, prosecutors in New Kent County had been looking into the veracity of Jones' community service certification letters from the Virginia NAACP and MOM PAC, which did not disclose that MOM PAC was a political action committee, much less one that he ran.

Commonwealth's Attorney Renick, who at that time was still the lead prosecutor on the case, told the local outlet that community service is supposed to be performed with nonpolitical, nonprofit organizations, and said, "It’s supposed to be something where you’re giving back to the community."

Was the claimed community service even possible or legal?

The WJLA report noted that its investigation of the matter had already raised questions about why Jones only received a fine and community service when most other Virginians convicted of similar or lesser reckless driving offenses typically received jail time and a suspended license.

Now, National Review noted, there are additional questions about how Jones purportedly served that 1,000 hours of community service in one year -- it would have required 10 hours of service every week in addition to his normal job as a lawyer and his cross-state campaigning activities for Democrats -- and whether the partisan organizations he served the hours with were even legal and appropriate.