Judge halts hearing over proposed FLDS land sale

ST. GEORGE — In a surprise move Friday morning, 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg abruptly halted a hearing over the proposed sale of Berry Knoll, which is more than 700 acres of FLDS farmland on the Arizona/Utah border.

Lindberg said she was acting on the recommendation from the Utah Attorney General's Office that the dispute should be worked out among the parties absent a judicial ruling.

There should be an effort made, she added, to achieve a global resolution.

"I am not going to take action today one way or another but I do expect a show of good faith that we seek demonstrative movement forward and that this not drag out. I am imploring all interested parties ... .to try to reach out and establish a dialogue where it has broken down."

Hundreds of FLDS turned out in the St. George court on Friday to challenge the proposed sale. The court-appointed special fiduciary of the UEP Trust wants to sell it to pay off debts and has accused the FLDS of engaging in a coordinated legal attack to starve the trust of money.

In 2005, the UEP Trust was taken over by the courts over allegations that FLDS leaders mismanaged it by defaulting on lawsuits and siphoning property away from it. The $110 million UEP Trust controls homes and property in the FLDS communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.

The trust was reformed, doing away with the communal property concept in favor of private property ownership. After 3 1/2 years of silence, FLDS members are launching legal challenges to the trust reforms claiming the reformed trust violates their religious freedom rights.

Lawyers for the court-appointed special fiduciary over the UEP Trust argue church members are too late to challenge the reforms because they refused repeated pleas for input in the reform process.

— Nancy Perkins