Police, prosecutors gather in Colorado City

As the nationwide manhunt for fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs intensifies, police, prosecutors and other major players in the battle over the Fundamentalist LDS Church met Tuesday in the eye of the storm — the polygamist border town of Colorado City, Ariz.

Law enforcement officers described the atmosphere in the town as "tense."

"I sense that people are wound pretty tight right now," Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith said.

Some people were seen leaving town as law enforcement arrived.

"People weren't exactly waiting for us with open arms in the front yard," Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard told the Deseret Morning News. "There's an awful lot of fences that have been built."

Goddard said his staff tried to serve Arizona grand jury subpoenas (see related story) at City Hall and the town marshal's office and found no one there.

"In the middle of the week no one is in City Hall," he said. "They were avoiding us."

Goddard was in town to meet with law enforcement from Utah and Arizona about the FLDS Church and its fugitive prophet, Warren Jeffs. The meeting included Goddard, Mohave County (Ariz.) Sheriff Tom Sheehan, polygamy investigator Gary Engels, Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith, Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap, representatives of Arizona's Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Council and Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust.

They discussed a variety of issues, including the hunt for Jeffs, problems with police officers in the polygamous border towns and the financial problems of the UEP.

Last week, 12 letters were sent to prominent people in Hildale and Colorado City, urging them to pay their property taxes or face eviction. On Tuesday, Wisan said five parcels of land in Colorado City had their property taxes paid, a total of $63,000. On seven parcels in Hildale, Wisan is instructing his lawyers to file a notice to quit with the courts, meaning they have five days to pay the taxes or get out.

"I've got another 12 we're looking at. They should go out either tomorrow or the day after. Some are on your list, some are not," Wisan said, referring to a list obtained by the Deseret Morning News that includes more than 70 names of prominent FLDS members targeted for possible eviction if they don't pay their property taxes.

In 2005, the state of Utah took control of the UEP to stop "looting" of the $110 million financial arm of the FLDS Church. A judge appointed Wisan to take over. In response, buildings in the border towns began disappearing.