Published: October 23, 2009 08:58 am      

Polygamous sect challenges seizure of land trust

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A polygamous sect is asking the Utah Supreme Court to overturn a state court decision that stripped the religious purposes from its communal land trust.

In a court filing, attorneys for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints argue that making the United Effort Plan Trust secular was a violation of the faith’s constitutionally protected religious rights.

Valued at more than $110 million, the trust holds most of the property in Hildale, Utah; Colorado City, Ariz.; and Bountiful, British Columbia — communities that are homes to FLDS members.

The UEP was formed in 1942 on a religious principle known as the Holy United Order, which calls for the sharing of assets for the benefit of all who follow the tenets of the faith.

Utah’s 3rd District Court seized the trust after allegations of mismanagement by church leader Warren Jeffs in 2005. Judge Denise Lindberg later approved a reworked version of the trust with secular goals, including private ownership of homes and an expanded class of trust beneficiaries. The changes have allowed former church members to return to the communities to claim a share of the assets.

The FLDS want Utah’s Supreme Court to declare the changes to the trust unconstitutional, remove court-appointed accountant Bruce Wisan as the trust’s manager and halt any pending sales of property or other management activities under way.

The appeal comes after a year of failed attempts by FLDS members to gain legal standing in 3rd District Court proceedings. A settlement attempt that would have returned control of the trust back to the FLDS also failed.

Some trust parcels are now at risk of being sold or lost to forfeiture.