Sheriffs compare notes on FLDS

Construction is booming in the Fundamentalist LDS Church's compounds scattered across several states, prompting lawmen in Utah, Arizona, South Dakota and Texas to keep each other informed about what they're seeing.

The sheriffs of Schleicher County, Texas, and Custer County, S.D., met with the Washington County Sheriff during a trip to southern Utah late last month to learn more about the FLDS Church. They also briefed each other on what is happening with the FLDS communities in their respective states.

"Construction, behavior, things of that nature," Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran said Tuesday. "Understand these aren't your typical citizens."

Doran has the FLDS Church's massive YFZ Ranch in his county. It is the site of the polygamist sect's first-ever temple. "YFZ" stands for "Yearn for Zion," after a song written by FLDS leader Warren Jeffs.

Doran, Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith and Mohave County, Ariz., Sheriff Tom Sheehan have kept in regular contact, observing that events in the FLDS strongholds of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., often have ripple effects in Texas.

During this latest trip, Smith took the sheriffs on a tour of Hildale, where they had lunch at the newly opened Merry Wives Cafe. The Washington County sheriff said the situation surrounding Jeffs and the FLDS Church is often fueled by rumor, innuendo and people with agendas. It's important for lawmen to get the facts.

"It's critical to keep everybody from allowing the rumor mill to explode," Smith said.

For Custer County Sheriff Rick Wheeler, this was his first trip to Hildale.

"It put my mind at ease," he said Tuesday. "I wasn't sure what this was all about. They educated me about the FLDS."

Wheeler said he did not know much about the FLDS faith or its people until a compound began appearing in the Black Hills near the town of Pringle.

"It's a small community," Wheeler said. "They're doing some building out there. It's residential. They're not going out of the area to work. As far as revenues, that's coming from a different source."

Revenue sources

Some of that revenue may be coming from businesses tied to the FLDS Church scattered across the West. Writs of garnishment were recently served on a hay farm in Beryl, Iron County, by the court-appointed special fiduciary of the FLDS Church's financial arm, the United Effort Plan Trust. It will satisfy a nearly $9 million judgment against Jeffs and the FLDS Church.