SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A Utah judge is set to come out with an update next month about a board that would oversee the redistribution of an estimated 750 homes and parcels of property belonging to a polygamous sect on the Utah-Arizona border.
It’s unclear if Utah Third District Court Judge Denise Lindberg will announce her choices for the board at the June 13 hearing or just provide a progress report. The board would oversee the redistribution of property tied to imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs’ sect.
Lindberg named 13 finalists in February, whittling down a field of 24. The public had seven days to send in comments about the candidates The judge scheduled interviews with the finalists in April. She can pick a board of five, seven or nine people.
Lindberg also has the option of keeping the trust in the court’s hands if she doesn’t think she has a board that can act independently and in the best interests of everyone.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office requested the hearing to find out if Lindberg believes she has enough qualified candidates, and if so, when the board will be named, court documents show.
Joni Jones, director of the litigation division in the attorney general’s office, said she was impressed by the candidates who applied and remains hopeful Lindberg will choose to appoint a board. While her office is eager for an update, they understand the selection process needs to be done carefully, she said.
“It’s a decision that should not be rushed,” Jones said.
Jeffrey Shields, an attorney representing Salt Lake City accountant Bruce Wisan, said he believes the judge has enough capable candidates among the finalists. “I expect her to name a board, but I just don’t know when,” Shields said.
The steps in creating a board are carefully spelled out in court orders following, but there is no set time limit on making a decision.
The homes have been tied up in the courts since a trust that holds them was seized by Utah in 2005 over allegations of mismanagement by Jeffs and other leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Jeffs is in a Texas prison where he is a serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting underage girls he considered brides.
The state’s goal has always been to return the homes and a scattering of property - worth an estimated $118 million - to community members in Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah. The creation of board is a key step toward a resolution.
The finalists for the board are: Gregory Barlow, Jethro Barlow, Deloy Bateman, Margaret Cooke, M. Jvar Dutson, Holly Ernest, Sheleigh Harding, Thomas A. Holm, Michael Hughes, Willie Jessop, Arnold Richter, Lane Ronnow and Don Timpson.
Jessop is a well-known former bodyguard of Jeffs who has left the sect. Bateman, Cooke and Timpson have been on Wisan’s advisory board.
None of the finalists are members of Jeffs’ sect. That’s because their jailed leader has made it clear they are not to participate.
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a radical offshoot of mainstream Mormonism whose members believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven. The practice of polygamy is a legacy of the early teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but the mainstream church and its 15 million members worldwide abandoned polygamy in 1890 and strictly prohibit it today.
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