Over the past several years, the states have taken control of the school district and the FLDS Church's real-estate arm and decertified police officers in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., who were perceived as loyal to Jeffs above their law-enforcement duties.

"That means whoever takes the job won't be able to arbitrarily throw people out of their houses, won't be able to provide the faithful with a job as a school administrator, won't be able to have a completely subservient police force," Goddard said.

The attorneys general from Utah and Arizona dismissed accusations the states have engaged in a campaign to systematically destroy a religion.

"What we've done, from the beginning, is focus on the abuse of children and then on the abuse of secular power," Goddard said. "None of that talks about people's underlying beliefs, and I think it would be wrong to talk about those underlying beliefs. What adults do in their religious observances is entirely their business."

Including polygamy?

"I'll just stop with what adults do with their religious beliefs," he replied.

Both Goddard and Shurtleff now say they have no evidence to suggest that child-bride marriages are continuing within the FLDS Church.

Goddard refused to say if his office was pursuing additional criminal cases against Jeffs or others within the FLDS Church. The Utah Attorney General's Office has been conducting an organized crime probe, but Shurtleff declined to say if any charges are imminent.

The Arizona Attorney General's Office said that since Jeffs' conviction, it has seen an increase in the number of people from the border towns calling a hotline set up for victims of domestic violence. Local nonprofit groups that help women and children in polygamy continue to see people seeking help.

"For a woman in Colorado City to call for help, it's a huge step," Goddard said.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com