Colorado City police chief may lose job
 
The Spectrum
 
ST. GEORGE - The police chief in the polygamous border town of Colorado City, Ariz., is facing decertification in Utah for having multiple wives.

Chief Sam Roundy and his officers also patrol nearby Hildale, Utah - just across the state line in the 10,000-person communities dominated by The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Administrative Law Judge Richard Wyss ruled that Roundy was in default because he failed to attend a Jan. 26 hearing that challenged his status as a peace officer.

The Utah Division of Peace Officer Standards and Training filed a complaint against Roundy in October 2004, alleging he was practicing plural marriage in violation of Utah's constitution and state law prohibiting bigamy.

In an interview Tuesday with the Deseret Morning News, Roundy said polygamists in the town were being unfairly targeted because of their religion.

"Every cop has a religion, but religion doesn't run my job," Roundy said. "We work closely with other agencies and do our jobs. Utah is saying we don't have the confidence of the people, and it's just the opposite of what they're saying. We grew up in this culture and we're part of it. It's religious persecution going after polygamy, that's all it is."

Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith said Roundy's certification is in question because he is in violation of the law. Polygamous officers have sworn to uphold the law but violate the bigamy statute, he said.

Wyss also recommended that Utah POST revoke Roundy's peace officer certification at its next meeting, which is scheduled next week in St. George. A formal vote is expected to approve the recommendation, Smith said.

Roundy said Tom Hammarstrom, executive director of Arizona's POST, paid him a visit last week, and said Arizona would probably also decertify the officers if Utah did.

The Arizona board earlier voted to ask its Rules Committee to consider revisions that would allow it to address concerns related to polygamy. The same body tried to revoke former Colorado City town marshal Sam Barlow's certification on the same polygamy charge but was rebuffed by an Arizona administrative judge who ruled there was no evidence to suggest Barlow was unable to do his job.

Colorado City's seven-member police force, which includes five full-time and two reserve officers, is cross-certified to work in Arizona and Utah. The status of the force and whether certain officers should be decertified by Utah and Arizona POST for their lifestyles has been discussed for a couple of years.

Smith said Roundy's possible decertification would not change the way the Sheriff's Office operates.

Washington County Sheriff's deputies will continue to patrol the border town along with police officers certified to work in Hildale, he said.

Smith said the department can operate without a police chief.

Hildale's police force was suspended in August 2003 for failing to fulfill a 40-hour annual training requirement mandated by state law. At that time, sheriff's deputies were placed on standby.

A former sworn officer, Rodney Holm, was convicted in August 2003 in St. George for bigamy and unlawful sexual activity with a minor ages 16 or 17.
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published March 17, 2005
 
Back