Mojave will not fund Colorado City center
 
By Mark Shaffer
The Arizona Republic
 
In a setback to the state's immediate efforts to monitor polygamy in Colorado City, the Mohave County Board of Supervisors has killed a proposal to build a new law-enforcement center in the area.

The most surprising aspect of the unexpected decision was that Supervisor Buster Johnson of Lake Havasu City, who has been one of the state's leading crusaders against multiple marriages and alleged child abuse, put the kibosh on the measure.

"I thought the whole thing was a go," said Supervisor Tom Sockwell of Bullhead City of Monday's vote. "Then Supervisor Johnson pops up and says that he doesn't think it's necessary after all the hoopla he's raised about the issue. We wanted a courthouse building with a sheriff's substation and room for Child Protective Services."

Johnson said his reasons for opposing the building are purely fiscal. He said it's much too early to talk about funding a building when no commitment has been made by the state to put its offices in it and no site has been selected.

Arizona and Utah officials announced their intentions to have more presence in Colorado City and neighboring Hildale, Utah, during an August summit in St. George, Utah.

That was to include deputies with no ties to the local Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, welfare and tax support offices and women and child protection offices.

No state funding has been allocated.

Dianna Jennings, a spokeswoman for the state Attorney General's Office, said the agency had gotten wind recently that the county might not follow through with funding a building.

"Regardless of what the county decided, our office will be pushing for a service center. We need to do something, whether it's independent of what others do or with CPS."
 
azcentral.com
Originally published November 5, 2003
 
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