Attorney General Terry Goddard
 ‘... We Get To Be On The Right Side Of Litigation’
 
By Don Harris
Arizona Capitol Times
 
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard sees his role as protecting those who are unable to protect themselves.

That explains why his office is playing a role in investigating the polygamist community of Colorado City and methamphetamine labs that pose a danger to youngsters living in those contaminated environments.

Mr. Goddard, a Democrat 2 1/2 years into his term as the state’s chief law enforcement officer, also targets consumer fraud and is embroiled in controversy over implementation of Proposition 200, a voter-approved measure aimed at illegal immigrants.

Arizona Capitol Times interviewed Mr. Goddard in his office June 14.

What’s the situation in Colorado City, comment on legislative action related to that polygamist community, and where do you go from here?

We’ve made some significant progress in the last month. It’s the result of two years of very hard preparation. The last piece to fall into place is Matt Smith’s indictment, the Mohave County attorney’s indictment of Warren Jeffs [president of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — no relationship to the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints] for sexual crimes with a minor. It’s something we all hoped would happen. We thought there was probably grounds for it, but my office does not have the jurisdiction so it’s up to the county attorney in Mohave County or in Utah to bring charges if they felt they were valid. The grand jury in Mohave County made that determination, so that added to our search warrants of the school district in Colorado City. We’re really striking at three different important parts of the power of Warren Jeffs. And as has been said several times, no one is above the law. My involvement started before I was sworn in as A.G. At an attorney generals’ conference in Florida, I started planning a coordinated effort with Utah to share information, and to try as clearly as we could to make the border between Utah and Arizona go away so people couldn’t hide on one side or the other. We also had to bury the ghost of Short Creek [a highly unpopular middle-of-the-night raid on Colorado City by state police under orders of then-Governor Howard Pyle].

When was that?

In 1953. Short Creek cut it two ways. It caused people in Colorado City to be somewhat justifiably afraid of the state. It was found that more women were afraid of the state of Arizona than they were of their abusers. The other half, it caused Arizona officials to back off for a long time.

Why was there no official action for so long?

The message out of Short Creek was leave’em alone. It’s very remote, very hard to get to. It’s a three and a half hour drive from Kingman. So if you’re a Mohave County official, it’s not exactly on your doorstep.

Why did you decide it was the thing to do?

It was a combination of things. It was something we talked a little about in the campaign. I go back to the belief that nobody’s above the law. The situations we were hearing about indicated that essentially they had taken the law unto themselves. They were bleeding the beast. They were taking funds, public money. They were also using their power to abuse young women and throw young men out of the community, so it became a pretty spectacular reason to go forward.

What about legislation?

Last year, the most important piece of legislation requested by the Attorney General’s Office was establishing felony bigamy with a minor. If you are any way involved as a perpetrator of a bigamous marriage, the individual involved with a woman under 18 or you are the parents of the child or the person who performs the ceremony, you’re subject to a new felony charge, which has sent a very strong message.

What about school district finances?

This year we had a very important bill. Last fall, we started hearing that they [Colorado City schools] were bouncing checks. It was clear that the Colorado City school district had spent itself into oblivion. They were essentially bankrupt, but when we researched the situation there was no bankruptcy provision for a government entity in Arizona. There was no way for any outside authority to come in and take over their affairs until they got it straightened out. So they had the potential of just sort of rocking along, with kids not getting educated and teachers not getting paid and ultimately the school district not doing its job. So the legislation passed this year allowed the state Board of Education to establish a trusteeship if a district is failing financially.

Has that happened?

It can’t happen until August 12 when that becomes law. We are preparing the petitions necessary. We have told the board and the superintendent that the day it’s effective we will be there requesting a trusteeship for Colorado City. One of the reasons we served the search warrant a couple of weeks ago was to make sure that all of the documents were preserved. And when the trustee takes office, he or she will have all that is needed to manage the affairs of the district.

Web Master's note: The rest of this article is omitted because it does not pertain to the subject matter of this web site.
 
azcapitoltimes.com
Originally published June 24, 2005
 
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