A federal judge ruled Thursday that the state of Utah must not only account for how funds in the Navajo oil trust was spent but for what purpose. If it can't, the state could be on the hook for portions of the $150 million trust.

In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell said Utah must give an accounting of the oil trust that not only lists out each transaction but for what purpose that money was used.

State officials said they have hundreds of boxes and binders containing documents dating back to about 1955. They argued that it would be too daunting a task to comb through decades of documents to provide an accounting of all transactions.

Congress created the trust in 1933, requiring that 37.5 percent of royalties from gas and oil exploration on Navajo land be placed in the trust and administered by the state of Utah.

"It is settled that the state, as trustee, has the duty to account to the beneficiaries in this case," Campbell wrote. Campbell pointed to other established court cases in which states were made to provide tribal fund accounting as far back as 1887 with approximately 300,000 beneficiaries. "Here, the accounting involves a single trust fund, transactions that potentially go as far back as the mid-1950s, approximately 7,000-8,000 indirect beneficiaries and ... approximately $50 (million)-62 million dollars in income," she wrote. "Federal statutes passed to protect Indian interests must be liberally construed in favor of the Indians, with doubts resolved in their favor."

A group of Navajos filed a federal lawsuit against the state in 1992, claiming that the state had mismanaged the money. This is one of a series of such suits over the management of the trust dating back to the 1970s.

The Navajos claims in the past the state has given out money to organizations that have embezzled it. In one case, the Utah Navajo Trust Fund gave about $35 million to the nonprofit Utah Navajo Development Council (UNDC), which in turn created a for-profit group called Utah Navajo Industries (UNI). That organization was supposed to invest seed money to startup businesses on reservations.

Some UNDC and UNI officials were convicted of embezzling trust money, and the plaintiffs claim the state is responsible for any missing money.

At issue since the latest suit was filed has been just how detailed an accounting the state must provide to show it has not mismanaged the funds. However, accounting of the trust has ranged from binders to boxes of receipts.

Campbell said the state must not only account for each expenditure, but for what purpose it was for. "It means that the State must demonstrate not only how the money was spent, but also the purpose for the expenditure." The judge added she would like to see the state go as far back as 1987 up to 1991; however, an appeal on the time frame is still pending before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

Assistant Utah Attorney General Philip Lott said his office is currently reviewing Campbell's 30-page decision and may appeal some issues to the 10th Circuit.

Campbell said the accounting will be reviewed on a transaction-by-transaction basis to determine if any money was given out inappropriately. A sum will then be calculated on what funds, if any, the state will be liable for.

The state must have its accounting completed by Nov. 5.

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