Negotiations over polygamous church trust not over
 
By Jennifer Dobner
The Associated Press
Deseret News
 
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A third day of talks in a battle for control of a polygamous church's property trust ended with no settlement but a promise from the parties to stay at the negotiating table.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says the parties wrangling over the United Effort Plan trust are still sorting out details of a settlement.

"People feel very strongly, and some major compromises are being made on all sides," Shurtleff said Friday. "That's what I asked people to do when we started, and I'm pleased that we are as close as we are."

The trust holds most of the property and homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., where most members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have traditionally lived. About 8,000 people live in the twin towns, and most are members of the church.

The UEP was seized by Utah courts in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement. Court-appointed accountant Bruce Wisan has converted the religious communal trust into a secular entity. That opened the door for individual property ownership and for former members — whether they chose to leave or were excommunicated — to return to the community and claim a share of trust assets.

The FLDS views Wisan's secular management of the trust as a violation of its religious rights. Sect members formed the UEP in 1942 on a 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 FLDS faith.

Church members have mostly ignored Wisan's management and demands, but changed course last fall when he petitioned the court to sell off land the FLDS said had been set aside for a church temple. That triggered a so-called "stand down," and the Utah attorney general's office began a series of discussions with all sides.

It's unclear how long it may take to work out what Shurtleff called "some pretty big details."

The central parties in the dispute are the states of Utah and Arizona, the FLDS and Wisan. Also at the tables are both cities, whom Wisan has sued, and attorneys for plaintiffs who filed civil lawsuits against church leaders and the trust in 2004. A group of non-FLDS — which includes both former church members and individuals with no connections to the sect — has also had input.

The distribution of land in the twin cities and a church enclave in Bountiful, British Columbia, has been a major focus of the negotiations, including whether some residents can have deeds to their homes and other residences can be jointly held by the church or in another joint trust.

Other issues of debate include how to divide or distribute communal properties, like city parks and cemeteries, and access to a medical clinic that currently serves just the FLDS. Distribution of undeveloped land in and around the cities is also being discussed, as is a way to pay some $2.6 million in outstanding bills owed to Wisan, his attorneys and other firms hired to perform some management duties.

The difficulty will be to find a way to accommodate competing community interests, particularly between the FLDS and former church members. To date, those differing viewpoints have mired the cash-poor trust in lawsuits and racked up the debt Wisan is now trying to pay.

"Unless it's settled the right way, there will be more lawsuits than ever," said Richard Holm, an excommunicated church member.

But FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop left the three day and nearly 30 hours of discussion upbeat.

"It's been another long day going through a lot of issues, but we remain optimistic about getting a settlement," he said.
 
DeseretNews.com
Originally published Friday, April 24, 2009
 
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