Reid, Shurtleff bury hatchet and pledge to work together

The attorneys general of Utah and Arizona are pledging to work with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to form a federal task force to deal with polygamy-related crimes.

After publicly sparring over the raid on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch in Texas, the Nevada senator called Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff on Tuesday to bury the hatchet.

"He said, 'I'm ready to kiss and make up,'" Shurtleff told the Deseret News.

Shurtleff said Reid pledged to help get the U.S. Justice Department involved to arrange a meeting between Arizona, Utah and Nevada authorities, as well as federal authorities.

"I'll forgive him really quickly if we can get the feds involved," Shurtleff said. "I said, 'Thank you, let's hope this is the first step to cooperation.'"

The politicians got into a war of words recently when Reid, D-Nev., praised Texas authorities for the raid on the YFZ Ranch and accused Utah and Arizona of doing nothing about polygamy. Reid also said he was "embarrassed" for the two states. The comments infuriated Shurtleff, who demanded an apology.

"They wouldn't be in Texas if we didn't kick them out of Utah," Shurtleff said.

Shurtleff and Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard are still sending a letter to Reid, giving him background on the two states' crackdowns on crimes within polygamy. A copy of the letter given to the Deseret News pointed out that the 1953 raid on the community of Short Creek (now known as Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.) was criticized and, as a result, the communities were ignored for almost 50 years.

"That ended in 2001 with the conviction of polygamist Tom Green for rape and bigamy," the letter states. "In 2002, Utah launched investigations into crimes being committed against women and children in the name of religion."

Pointing out the conviction of FLDS member Rodney Holm for unlawful sexual relations with a 16-year-old girl, the letter said "one month after Holm's conviction in 2003, (FLDS leader) Warren Jeffs ordered the purchase of property in Texas and Colorado to escape criminal prosecutions. At the time, the marriage age in Texas was 14 years old."

The four-page letter also touts Jeffs' placement on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, his arrest in Nevada, and his conviction in Utah on a charge of rape as an accomplice "after ordering and performing an underage marriage in Caliente, Nevada."

Jeffs, 52, is currently in an Arizona jail where he is facing charges accusing him of performing more underage marriages. Mohave County, Ariz., prosecutors have also convicted six FLDS members on sex abuse charges stemming from underage marriages.