October 18, 2009
No easy solutions in polygamous church land fight
by Jennifer Dobner
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY -- More than four years after Utah sought to protect assets in a polygamous church's land trust, the state's plan seems to have backfired -- the trust is mired in debt, tangled in lawsuits and some of the land that was supposed to be preserved is poised for court-ordered sale.
"It's in terrible shape and that wasn't supposed to be the case," said Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.
The $100 million-plus United Effort Plan Trust holds most of the homes and property in Hildale, Utah, Colorado City, Ariz., and Bountiful, British Columbia, communities long dominated by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS).
The Utah courts seized the trust in 2005 after state attorneys alleged church president Warren Jeffs -- then a fugitive from Arizona criminal charges -- had used trust assets for personal benefit and left it vulnerable to liquidation from default judgments in civil lawsuits filed in 2004.
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