FLDS members fear possibility of a second raid

Only a handful of people were seen on the 1,700-acre ranch. A woman in a blue dress looked out the second-floor window of a home. A dairy was sparsely tended to. The rock quarry, a sewage treatment facility and the fields were empty. The once-pristine green lawn of the FLDS Church's first-ever temple is turning brown.

"I don't really see a whole lot of people anymore," said a man named Al, who lives on the ranch. "CPS told 'em if you ever return to the ranch, you'll never get your kids back."

The attack on their way of life has brought about some new activism by the FLDS. Jessop said they requested about 600 voter registration cards from Schleicher County. The group has been criticized for its isolation.

"That's the one thing I think we have to take some responsibility," he said.

Among those touring the sprawling ranch was Jim Beck, who owns the ranch next door. When he heard that the ranch had been opened, he followed reporters inside. Beck has watched it being built for years from afar.

"I just wanted to see it," he said outside the temple grounds. "It's impressive. It's amazing."

Courthouse

Meanwhile, hearings that will help determine the status of the 450-plus children in foster care resume today in San Angelo.

Throughout the hearings, it has become evident that many FLDS members have left the ranch and moved to other parts of Texas to be near their children. Some women are securing jobs.

Sarah Draper, another mother, said she had gotten a job at a hospital in Abilene. Adeline Barlow had gotten a job in San Antonio to be near her two children.

Barlow's husband, Leroy Steed Jeffs, 55, did not appear in court Wednesday. When reached by phone in Hildale, he told CPS caseworker Ashley Kennedy that he had seen the family service plan, which offers recommendations on what it will take for unifying parents with their children, and that "at this time he was not interested" in participating, she said on the witness stand.

Draper's former husband, excommunicated FLDS member Dan Barlow, appeared in court to object to his plan. He has not been in the church for several years and wondered why he should be subjected to its restrictions when he hasn't seen his children in a long time.

Five judges have been simultaneously holding hearings for the children. The hearings have produced many surprises.

The number of so-called "disputed minors" is dwindling. At least eight young women have now been deemed to be adults.

A lawyer for a 14-year-old girl on the list said she is not pregnant, as the Texas DFPS had originally claimed.

"My client does not have children, is not pregnant. She's the youngest on the list of disputed minors," Andrea Sloan said in court.

The judge hearing the case objected, saying it was not relevant to the status hearing. Sloan pressed forward.