Judge Halts Land Sale Proceedings

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10984091

Excerpts

Third District Judge Denise Lindberg postponed a hearing Friday to allow attorneys to work out a "global resolution" of litigation involving the United Effort Plan Trust and a plan for its future management.

The surprise move halted the proposed sale of the 711-acre Berry Knoll Farm - which FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop called "a huge victory."

An estimated 2,500 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints showed up at the 5th District courthouse to show their disapproval of court-appointed fiduciary Bruce R. Wisan and his plan to sell the property.

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The judge took the action at the request of the Utah Attorney General's Office, which had pursued the state's initial takeover of the trust in 2005, alleging mismanagement.

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The UEP Trust holds virtually all property in the twin communities of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz. Most residents are FLDS members.

The trust was set up 66 years ago to foster a communal way of life organized around religious principles. Lindberg rewrote the trust in 2006 to remove its religious underpinnings.

Sect members argued in a federal lawsuit that the overhaul, coupled with the trust's subsequent management, violated constitutionally protected religious rights.

Attorneys said any settlement will have to resolve that and other lawsuits targeting the trust, arrange payment of $2 million in trust expenses, create new trust management and devise ways to accommodate property claims of all beneficiaries, including people who have left the church.

The sect will require that any deal includes Wisan's removal, Jessop said.

Jeff Shields, one of the attorneys representing Wisan, called the sect's willingness to work out a compromise "a major" development.

"We are delighted that people are going to come and talk to us," Shields said. "When people talk, resolutions can happen."

Wisan's goal, Shields said, would still be to have the community subdivided and give deeds to residents to "do what they want with them."