Hildale is told to pay up
 New round of tax notices served; Jeffs' control may be weakening
 
By Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
Warren Jeffs

Warren Jeffs

HILDALE, Washington County — The notice was taped to the door that leads out of the massive compound and onto a red dirt road.

"I am now informed that property taxes owing on the property are again delinquent," wrote Jeffrey L. Shields, an attorney for the court-controlled United Effort Plan Trust.

The homes of Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs are among the latest to be served with a new round of tax notices that say pay up — or get out.

"We will pursue eviction if you don't pay," Shields told the Deseret Morning News.

In 2005, a judge took control of the FLDS Church's financial empire amid allegations that Jeffs and other top church officials were fleecing it. The UEP Trust controls businesses, homes and properties here in Hildale and in Colorado City, Ariz.

Shields said about 120 homes in Hildale are being served with tax notices. The last time tax notices were served, they were all paid. This time, some people have vacated their homes, Shields said.

Meanwhile, the community's leader sits in the Purgatory Jail facing charges of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. Jeffs is accused of performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her older cousin.

Jeffs, 51, appeared to be in poor health during his last court appearance. He nodded off at times and at one point drooled on himself. Jeffs tried to speak to the judge at the end of the hearing, struggling to stand up and feebly tearing at a piece of paper that he had written on.

"He is very frail," defense attorney Walter Bugden Jr. told reporters outside of court.

At the Purgatory Jail, Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith said Jeffs does eat — even though he looked skeletal in his court appearances. Smith refused to say if Jeffs was on any medications.

"We're taking good care of him and doing everything we can to make sure he gets to trial," Smith told the Deseret Morning News.

Here in the polygamous border towns, life goes on despite Jeffs' troubles. Girls in prairie dresses and braids were seen running outside. Men and women were laboring around their homes.

Both law enforcement and ex-FLDS members have observed some changes amongst the faithful. People appear to be talking more. Some think Jeffs' grip on the community may be relaxing.

"I'm sure he (Jeffs) still has influence on the community," Mohave County Attorney's investigator Gary Engels told reporters outside of court earlier this week.

But someone else within the FLDS Church may now be conducting the day-to-day business of the polygamous sect — including marriages.

"I'm sure that they've designated someone with the authority to perform marriages now," Engels said. "As far as marriages still ongoing, or underage marriages still ongoing, I couldn't tell you."

While things may be quiet in Hildale and Colorado City, the temple on the FLDS Church's ranch in Eldorado, Texas, will become a carnival attraction this weekend.

The rural Texas town is hosting its annual "Elgoatarod" community celebration, which features goat races. In addition to the carnival and the April Fools' Day parade through town, organizer Jim Runge is offering $25 helicopter rides over the church's YFZ Ranch. It stands for "Yearn for Zion," after a song Jeffs wrote.

Even though the FLDS in Texas are not expected to participate, Runge expects they will be a draw.

"I think the attendance will be a little bigger this year because of the helicopter rides," he said Thursday. "Most of the people want to see the YFZ. A lot of them never been up in a helicopter."

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com
 
deseretnews.com
Originally published Sunday, April 1, 2007
 
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