In 1862, after an unpopular jury decision in the single ledge case which determined the ownership of the Comstock Lode, the territorial legislature tried to switch Jones and Judge Gordon Mott between the First Judicial District and the Third District. When the bill came back from the Judiciary Committee, the council erupted in heated discussion. Neither Mott nor Jones wanted to exchange districts, though Mott apparently wasn't greatly bothered by the decision since he had been recently elected representative to Congress and would be leaving soon. But Jones was incensed. Jones maintained the bill was invalid because it was signed after the legislature's adjournment. He accused Thomas Hannah of improperly handling the bill in the Senate, and Hannah challenged Jones to a duel. Jones refused, then said he would not practice the kind of law the attorneys of the first district practiced. Jones walked out of his court and would not hear any more cases during the May term of 1863.