Utah gets out of the land war in the polygamous border towns

October 6, 2017 Utah Channel 3

SALT LAKE CITY — The state of Utah has quietly extricated itself from a 12-year-old legal war over control of homes and property in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona.

The Utah Attorney General’s Office withdrew from the ongoing legal case involving the United Effort Plan Trust and the Fundamentalist LDS Church back in April. The Arizona Attorney General’s Office also withdrew from the case.

In a statement to Fox 13 News, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes’ office said the state withdrew because their objectives have been achieved.

“The Attorney General became involved because the prior trustees abandoned their responsibilities, leaving Trust assets at risk of being lost. The Trust and the community are far better off than before the Attorney General became involved,” Reyes spokesman Dan Burton said.

In 2005, then-Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff asked the courts to seize control of the UEP Trust. He alleged FLDS Church leaders, including Warren Jeffs, mismanaged it. (Jeffs is currently serving a life sentence in a Texas prison for child sex assault related to underage “marriages.”)

Read the full story here: Fox13Now.com.

Written by BEN WINSLOW, Fox13Now.com

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