LAS VEGAS (KSNV & MyNews3) -- Now that a family court judge is facing fraud charges what happens to his cases?
News 3's Mackenzie Warren is learning: Judge Steven Jones has quite a stack of unfinished business and he won't be returning to the courtroom any time soon.
Jones has a caseload of more than 3,000 child neglect and abuse cases and 250 custody cases. That massive stack will be passed off to a senior judge.
Fill-in judges are quite common.
Any time a judge is out sick or on vacation: another will take their place.
Judge Jones' circumstances are clearly quite different.
He's removed himself from the bench as he faces a state-mandated suspension.
Jones and five others have been indicted in an elaborate investment scheme.
United States attorneys say Jones used his own chambers to field calls and collected cash at the courthouse.
He plead not guilty yesterday. Today, it was business as usual in Jones' courtroom, except another judge heard his cases.
News 3 spoke to one family attorney who says it's not uncommon to walk into court and see a different judge.
No judges would go on-camera with us today. They were simply "too busy."
It's going to be quite the shuffle to re-assign all Jones' cases but they say they'll get it done. Beyond the volume judges worry about what potential backlash these types of allegations might have on the judicial system.
