Durham judge charged with domestic violence had protective order against him
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- Durham chief judge faced a Wake County temporary protective order.
- Order cites four incidents since 2024, including Nov. 29 alleged neck grab.
- Wake judge ordered 200-foot distance, no contact and surrender of firearms.
A Durham County judge arrested on a domestic violence charge was already under a domestic violence protective order in Wake County, according to documents obtained by The News & Observer.
Clayton Jones, chief judge of Durham County’s District Court, was charged Monday with assault on a female and a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, court records show. In a statement released by his attorneys, Jones called the allegations “entirely false.”
The protective order, which lists Jones as the defendant, was signed by Wake County District Court Judge Rhonda Young on Dec. 1. It expired Tuesday.
The plaintiff who filed the order is the same woman whom Jones is accused of assaulting. The N&O does not generally publish the names of people who say they are victims of domestic violence.
The order lists four incidents, the most recent on Nov. 29. That day, Jones and the plaintiff went to an autobody shop to fix a problem with the plaintiff’s brakes. They left the autobody shop to go to Advance Auto Parts. As Jones and the plaintiff drove there, the plaintiff called a male friend, a mechanic who had worked on her car before.
At Advance Auto Parts, the plaintiff was speaking with an employee when Jones allegedly became upset and interrupted them, according to the protective order. When the two went back to the autobody shop, Jones allegedly called the plaintiff ungrateful, upset that she would “call another [expletive] regarding a discount.”
Jones then grabbed the plaintiff by her throat and told her he would hurt her and to never “mention another [expletive] to me again,” the protective order alleges.
That incident appears to be related to the criminal charges Jones faces. The warrant for his arrest lists the date of offense as Nov. 29 and accuses him of grabbing a woman by the neck.
The three other incidents took place within the last 12 months, according to the order:
- On Nov. 22, 2024, Jones allegedly came to the plaintiff’s house and tore up cards on her porch. Jones allegedly came back drunk at 1 a.m. and argued with the plaintiff, refusing to leave and “slinging water all over her living room.”
- On March 8, 2025, Jones allegedly went to the plaintiff’s house and threw a bag of clothes and other items from the parking lot toward her door, then drove off. Jones allegedly showed up again around 10 p.m., attempting to argue with the plaintiff.
- On Nov. 6, 2025, after an argument over text, Jones allegedly came to the plaintiff’s house without the plaintiff’s consent.
The Wake County District Court ordered Jones to stay at least 200 feet away from the plaintiff, have no contact with her and surrender his firearms, according to the protective order. Jones owns at least 30 firearms stored around his house and in a gun cabinet, the protective order stated.
The woman’s complaint, and Jones’ response
On Tuesday, Jones filed an answer to the woman’s complaint for a domestic violence protective order.
The complaint is separate from the temporary ex parte (Latin for one-sided) order the judge granted after speaking only with the plaintiff.
A complaint allows for a hearing with both sides present to determine the need for a “permanent” protective order, which will last for one year, according to a North Carolina Judicial Branch guide. Jones could not respond to the ex parte order but could respond to the complaint.
The Nov. 29 argument stemmed from a dispute over fixing the brakes on the woman’s car, according to the complaint. The woman spent the night of Nov. 28 at Jones’ home, and Jones ran errands with her car the next morning.
When he came back, Jones mentioned the condition if the woman’s brakes, the complaint stated. She replied that she had told him about their condition weekly for six weeks. Jones called O’Reilly’s Auto Parts, but the woman told them she could get a discount at Advance Auto Parts.
Jones and the woman took his vehicle and drove to Advance Auto Parts to get parts, the complaint stated. The woman contacted a friend who is a mechanic and has done brake work on her vehicles before to figure out how to get a discount on the parts, but Jones “seemed agitated and was talking under his breath to himself in the car about knowing about things,” the complaint stated.
As the woman spoke with a cashier at the store, Jones came in and spoke aggressively, the complaint stated. The two discussed why they were both upset with each other before heading to the mechanic, the woman’s friend, with the parts.
The mechanic pointed out an additional issue with the woman’s brakes, and the woman replied “I’ve been trying to get this done for six weeks,” the complaint stated. Jones stepped in between the two, telling the mechanic he and the woman needed a minute to talk.
Jones then told the woman she was ungrateful, noting he had called about the brakes in the first place, the complaint stated. The woman replied that she had asked him to fix the brakes for weeks. The two went back and forth before the other mechanic was brought up.
That’s when Jones allegedly lunged at the woman, grabbed and squeezed her by the throat and told her he would hurt her and “not to ever mention another [expletive] to him again,” according to the complaint.
In his answer to the complaint, Jones denied that he ever attempted or caused bodily injury to the woman or put the woman in fear of imminent bodily injury. Jones and the woman had an argument about her brakes, but the two drove to the mechanic in separate cars.
Jones and the woman got into an argument when they returned to the repair shop but Jones removed himself from the situation, the answer stated. He went to his car, but the woman allegedly threw the keys across the parking lot.
Jones retrieved his keys, and the woman accused him of hitting her, the answer stated. Jones “left at that point and stopped engaging with her.”
The woman’s complaint detailed the Nov. 22, 2024, incident. Jones came to the woman’s house uninvited while she was at work, the complaint alleges. He emptied bags of gifts he had received and tore up cards on the woman’s front porch. He allegedly returned to the house at 2 a.m.
Jones was upset that the woman accepted a job offer days earlier, allegedly telling her “no girlfriend or wife of his would be traveling for work,” according to the complaint.
In his answer, Jones acknowledged the two had a dispute over the job and affirmed that he “returned” gifts the woman had purchased for him. He denied that he objected to the woman’s job because he believed his partner should not travel for work.
The woman’s complaint also cited a Nov. 23, 2025, incident where Jones allegedly came to her house drunk and acted loud and aggressively outside while her son was home. He allegedly came inside and became more aggressive — cursing, yelling and throwing bottles of water.
The woman asked Jones to leave, and he refused, the complaint alleges. She told Jones her son was here, and he said “he didn’t care.” Jones then grabbed a travel-size bottle of tequila from the kitchen to drink.
Jones allegedly stayed at the house for over an hour, berating the woman about accepting a job for which she’d frequently travel, the complaint stated. He was upset that her job would take time away from him. He left the house on his own and apologized to the woman and her son two days later.
Jones affirmed that he went to the woman’s house on Nov. 23 and “spoke in a way he later deeply regretted and apologized for,” the complaint stated. He denied that his behavior that night put anyone in fear of bodily injury or harassment.
Jones and the woman have been in a relationship since at least 2020, according to the complaint. The complaint alleged that the woman had a miscarriage “caused by recent discoveries of his continued infidelities throughout the relationship.”
In his answer, Jones acknowledged that the woman told him of her pregnancy and miscarriage but denied any knowledge or belief that he was the cause of the miscarriage.
Jones is due in court on Jan. 15, 2026.
This story was originally published December 9, 2025 at 12:28 PM.
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