Polygamy-police issue stuns Hildale

HILDALE, Washington County — Hildale Mayor David Zitting said he's surprised and baffled by Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff's sudden urge to fire the town's police force because he thinks the officers practice polygamy.

"I don't know what Shurtleff's doing," said Zitting, who last met with Shurtleff in Salt Lake City months ago before an Aug. 22 Polygamy Summit called by the attorney general in St. George. Despite a clear invitation then to Shurtleff to contact him if he had questions or wanted to talk about anything, Zitting said, "I haven't heard from him since. I've invited him to come down and take a tour, but he hasn't done it."

Shurtleff said in a Thursday meeting of the Peace Officer Standards and Training Council that Hildale officers are living in violation of Utah law and should be decertified. In response, the council has asked POST director Sid Groll to look into the matter.

Shurtleff apparently believes that too many people might be looking the other way, allowing fundamentalist religious tenets that polygamy is central to spiritual salvation to trump state laws prohibiting it.

Former Hildale police officer Rodney Holm was decertified after being convicted in August of felony bigamy for having "spiritually married" a 16-year-old girl when he was already married.

Shurtleff thinks Holm's fellow officers and his chief, Colorado City, Ariz., Police Marshal Sam Roundy, knew about the situation but didn't take action in deference to Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist LDS Church where Holm is a member.

"It appears to me that chief Sam Roundy is not in control but that (Warren) Jeff's in control," Shurtleff told the Deseret Morning News on Thursday night. "We need to look into it and see if they are (bigamists)."

Several women who formerly lived as polygamists in Hildale but have since left the lifestyle have told the AG's office that it is common knowledge among residents there that "you don't go to the police on issues, because they are loyal to the church," Shurtleff's chief deputy, Kirk Torgensen, said.

"I realize that some of this is hearsay," Torgensen said. "I firmly believe that it's a question that needs to be looked at. Are these police officers devoted and dedicated to the constitution and the laws of Utah or are they devoted and dedicated to the (FLDS) church?"

Colorado City and Hildale blend across the state line and are populated by members of the FLDS Church. Hildale receives police protection through an agreement with the nine-member Colorado City Police Department and pays $53,400 annually for round-the-clock service, including 911, Zitting said.