 | |
| Support Your Local Sheriff | |
Hildale and Colorado City have their own police force (and until recently, also had a justice court judge) comprised of local citizens who live in these polygamous communities. The judge and some police officers have admitted to being polygamists; one was found guilty of bigamy in August 2003 (see the section on Rodney Holm - "Police Officer 'Marries' a Child Bride"). Then there was the 1992 decertification investigation by the Arizona Law Enforcement Officer Advisory Council (ALEOAC) of admitted polygamist, Colorado City Deputy Marshal Sam Barlow. Sam Barlow had already been denied Peace Officer status in Utah after he admitted to the Utah Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) that he was a polygamist. So, just how did Sam Barlow manage to get so many prominent Law Enforcement Officials to support him in his fight to retain his Arizona Police Officer status? Were these people not aware that the lifestyle Marshal Sam Barlow was practicing (polygamy) was AGAINST THE LAW? Some people worry that the policemen and judge put their laws of God before the laws of the land and that justice is not being served. Others think that these officials should not be able to openly practice a lifestyle that is illegal. Below are some news articles describing the unique situation this causes. These articles are listed in chronological order. | |
| |
| Lawyer Asks Judge to Stop Hearing for Polygamist Cop | |
|
The Associated Press Originally published March 3, 1992 | |
| PHOENIX -- An attorney for polygamist law officer Sam Barlow asked a federal judge Monday to stop a certification hearing in which the Colorado City marshal could lose his job for having three wives. The Arizona Law Enforcement Advisory Council has scheduled for Thursday a certification hearing in which the board, which licenses law enforcement throughout the state, has sought since 1987. Barlow, who has sired 36 children, belongs to a fundamentalist-Mormon sect that encourages polygamy in Colorado City which, with twin community Hillsdale, straddles the Arizona-Utah border. He was hired as town marshal in 1986 after serving as a Mohave County sheriff's deputy for 20 years. Barlow's attorney Mark Canvass said the council is selectively persecuting his client for his religious beliefs while deciding not to pursue other cases against officers involving adultery and incest. Read more | |
| Polygamist Marshall Claims 'Persecution' | |
|
The Associated Press Originally published March 7, 1992 | |
| PHOENIX -- A Colorado City town marshal with three wives testified Friday that a proceeding to end his career as a lawman because he practices polygamy is just a continuation of the religious persecution he has known all his life. Sam Barlow told a hearing officer of the Arizona Law Enforcement Officer Advisory Council on the second day of a two-day hearing that he has three wives in accordance with his fundamentalist Mormon beliefs. ALEOAC maintains that Barlow's practice of polygamy violates his oath to uphold the state constitution and undermines the public faith in a law enforcement. Read more | |
| Polygamist Lawman Wins Decertification Fight | |
|
The Associated Press Originally published May 16, 1992 | |
| A deputy marshal from the polygamist enclave of Colorado City near the Utah-Arizona border has won a five-year legal battle with state authorities who tried to revoke his accreditation as a lawman because he has three wives. The 11-member Arizona Law Enforcement Officer Advisory council voted Thursday without debate to accept a hearing officer's recommendation that charges for decertification of Sam Barlow be dismissed. "He's pretty happy, but he would have liked the case to go to the Supreme Court," Barlow's attorney Marc Cavness said. Barlow, the father of 36 children and member of a fundamentalist sect, did not respond to a request for comment placed to the marshal's office. The former Mohave County deputy sheriff has been on administrative leave as a deputy town marshal in Colorado City on the Utah line. Read more | |
| Hildale's entire police force is suspended | |
| Force fails to meet training requirement | |
|
By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published August 12, 2003 | |
| ST. GEORGE -- Failing to fulfill a 40-hour annual training requirement mandated by Utah state law, Hildale's entire police force has been suspended for six weeks, state and county officials confirmed Monday. Since the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1, the five officers, who had worked under an inter-city agreement for the police departments in the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., have lost their policing powers in Utah, including searching, interrogating and making police arrests. "Most of them appear to have low numbers of hours needed," said Sid Groll, director of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) at the Utah Department of Public Safety. "They will have no authority until their hours are made up." Read more | |
| Entire Hildale Police force suspended | |
|
The Associated Press Originally published August 12, 2003 | |
| St. George, Utah -- All five Hildale, Utah, police officers have been suspended for six weeks for failing to fulfill a 40-hour annual training requirement mandated by Utah state law, state and county officials said. Officials said Monday that since July 1, the start of the fiscal year, the five officers working under an intercity agreement for the police departments in the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., have lost their policing powers in Utah, including searching, interrogating and making police arrests. "Most of them appear to have low numbers of hours needed," said Sid Groll, director of Peace Officer Standards and Training at the Utah Department of Public Safety. "They will have no authority until their hours are made up." Utah law requires that police officers fulfill at least 40 hours of in-service training to keep their POST certificate. Groll didn't release the exact number of hours the Hildale officers are still lacking, but he said Police Chief Sam Roundy is "a few hours short." Read more | |
| Utah Targets Polygamist Police Officers | |
|
The Associated Press Originally published October 17, 2003 | |
| SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah authorities are targeting the police force in a small town known for polygamy, where one polygamist officer has already been convicted and his police certification revoked. The decision Thursday by the Peace Officer Standards and Training council to strip police certification from officers who practice polygamy followed complaints from state officials who said police in Hildale, a town of about 2,000 near the Arizona line, were hampering investigations into underage marriages. "They are sworn officers, and they are sworn to uphold the law, but they are openly committing third-degree felony bigamy," Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, a member of the council, said in Friday editions of The Salt Lake Tribune. Prosecutors have been going after members of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, and other polygamist sects who take child brides, particularly in Hildale and its sister city Colorado City, Ariz., where many residents are FLDS members. Former Hildale police officer Rodney Holm was convicted this year of bigamy and unlawful sex with a girl he took as a third wife when she was 16. He was sentenced last week to a year in jail, and his police certification was revoked. Shurtleff said Thursday that investigators would be given the names of other Hildale officers believed to have multiple wives. The attorney general said the state has the right to stop polygamist police officers from being in law enforcement. Read more | |
| Polygamist cop loses Utah certification; others targeted | |
|
The Associated Press Originally published October 18, 2003 | |
| Utah authorities have revoked the certification of one polygamist police officer and vow to do the same with others. The Peace Officer Standards and Training Council made the pledge after state officials said the police were hampering investigations into underage marriages. "They are sworn officers, and they are sworn to uphold the law, but they are openly committing third-degree-felony bigamy," Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, a member of the council, said in a copyrighted story in Friday's edition of The Salt Lake Tribune. "They are in dereliction of their duty," said South Ogden Police Chief Val Shupe, who also is president of the Utah Chiefs of Police Association. The action particularly targets Hildale, Utah, and its sister city, Colorado City, Ariz. Most of the cities' residents are members of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. A phone message left Friday by The Associated Press with Hildale Police Chief Sam Roundy was not immediately returned. Prosecutors have been going after members of the FLDS and other polygamist sects who take child brides. Read more | |
| Polygamy-police issue stuns Hildale | |
| Shurtleff wants officers fired, says law violated | |
|
By Nancy Perkins and Jennifer Dobner Deseret Morning News Originally published Saturday, October 18, 2003 | |
| HILDALE, Washington County — Hildale Mayor David Zitting said he's surprised and baffled by Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff's sudden urge to fire the town's police force because he thinks the officers practice polygamy. "I don't know what Shurtleff's doing," said Zitting, who last met with Shurtleff in Salt Lake City months ago before an Aug. 22 Polygamy Summit called by the attorney general in St. George. Despite a clear invitation then to Shurtleff to contact him if he had questions or wanted to talk about anything, Zitting said, "I haven't heard from him since. I've invited him to come down and take a tour, but he hasn't done it." Shurtleff said in a Thursday meeting of the Peace Officer Standards and Training Council that Hildale officers are living in violation of Utah law and should be decertified. In response, the council has asked POST director Sid Groll to look into the matter. Shurtleff apparently believes that too many people might be looking the other way, allowing fundamentalist religious tenets that polygamy is central to spiritual salvation to trump state laws prohibiting it. Former Hildale police officer Rodney Holm was decertified after being convicted in August of felony bigamy for having "spiritually married" a 16-year-old girl when he was already married. Shurtleff thinks Holm's fellow officers and his chief, Colorado City, Ariz., Police Marshal Sam Roundy, knew about the situation but didn't take action in deference to Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist LDS Church where Holm is a member. "It appears to me that chief Sam Roundy is not in control but that (Warren) Jeff's in control," Shurtleff told the Deseret Morning News on Thursday night. "We need to look into it and see if they are (bigamists)." Read more | |
| Man who helped runaway arrested | |
| Truman Barlow Shapley held overnight on charge of violation of a protective order | |
|
By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Wednesday, February 11, 2004 | |
| ST. GEORGE -- A man who reportedly helped a 16-year-old girl run away from Colorado City was arrested Sunday night in Hildale but was released after a justice court appearance on Monday. Truman Barlow Shapley, 23, was kept overnight in Purgatory Correctional Facility after he was arrested by Colorado City police on a charge of protective order violation, according to Washington County Sheriff's Office. He was transported Monday morning to Moccasin Justice Court, where he was released for an unspecified reason, said Trish Carter, spokeswoman for Mohave County Sheriff's Office, which she said was not involved in the case. Colorado City and Hildale's Town Marshal Sam Roundy didn't return The Spectrum's call for comment Monday. Flora Jessop, an anti-polygamy activist in Phoenix who ran away from Colorado City 17 years ago, said Shapley was arrested while helping the 17-year-old girl run away again on Sunday night. Liz Barker, communications director for the Arizona Child Protective Services, which is monitoring the girl's situation, confirmed that the girl was at home on Tuesday. But she would not comment on the girl's second attempt to runaway. Read more | |
| Hildale Police Officers May Lose Powers | |
|
KCSG Channel 6 - St. George KCSG.com Originally broadcast June 9, 2004 | |
| Some Hildale police officers may have their powers stripped if the Utah Attorney General has his way. An investigation by the Attorney General Mark Shurtleff indicates that several Hildale police officers are practicing polygamy, that some have not completed 40 hours of annual training requirements, and that some have lied about meeting those requirements. If that training is not completed their certifications could be revoked. Shurtleff has said that his office has no intention of bringing criminal charges against the officers. The Utah Police Officers Standards and Training office, POST, is looking into the situation and will have the final decision regarding the revocations. | |
| Hildale officers may be facing decertification | |
|
By Nancy Perkins and Jennifer Dobner Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, June 10, 2004 | |
| A new report from the Utah Attorney General's Office says seven Hildale police officers have failed to uphold state laws and should be considered for decertification by the state's police academy. The report alleges that the seven officers knew of crimes being committed by others in the department and in the community but failed to investigate or alert other authorities. Among the violations considered in investigator Ron Barton's report are crimes typically associated with the practice of polygamy, including underage marriage and child bigamy. Hildale and its Arizona twin, Colorado City, are home to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which teaches plural marriage. Nearly all of the 6,000 residents of the area are members of the church. The report includes a list of officers that the Attorney General's Office says are engaged in plural marriage. Read more | |
| Police in Polygamist Community Get Reviews | |
| Several agencies reviewing police officers in polygamist community | |
|
The Associated Press KPHO.com Originally published June 17, 2004 | |
| SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Several state and county agencies have started investigations of alleged improprieties involving police officers practicing polygamist lifestyles in southern Utah, it was revealed at a police standards conference. The state police academy recently started its review of officers in the twin polygamist communities of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., after completion of an eight-month investigation by the Utah Attorney General's office. That report alleges seven of the 13 police officers are practicing polygamists, officers failed to police each other, and they may have exaggerated their amount of required training. Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Director Sid Groll earlier had said his office would review only the issue of training hours, deferring an inquiry into other accusations until criminal investigations were complete. But last week, Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap and Department of Public Safety Commissioner Robert Flowers, Groll's boss, decided to conduct investigations alongside separate reviews by a state police detective and a POST investigator. Read more | |
| Former members of polygamous sect sue church leaders | |
|
The Chicago Tribune Originally published August 29, 2004 | |
| SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- Six former members of a breakaway polygamous sect banished or excommunicated from the church filed a conspiracy lawsuit Friday against the church's prophet and one of his assistants, claiming a pattern of unlawful activity and conspiracy to get rid of surplus boys and men. The plaintiffs, all former members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, based in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., included in the court complaint portions of federal racketeering statutes sometimes used in organized crime prosecutions. They claim that FLDS church president and prophet Warren Jeffs and Sam Barlow, a former Colorado City police chief and close associate of Jeffs, have engaged in assault, threats, unlawful dealing of property, theft by extortion, child kidnapping, official misconduct and theft of services. According to the complaint filed in 3rd District Court, the church has engaged in "systematic excommunication" of adolescents and young men in order to reduce competition for wives. | |
| New justice center opens in Colorado City | |
|
The Associated Press azcentral.com Originally published August 30, 2004 | |
| Arizona's Mohave County has established a permanent presence in the polygamous community of Colorado City. A $200,000 justice center opened last week, providing office space for the sheriff's office, the county attorney's office, and room for state child protective service offices and the Arizona attorney general's office. "Our closest facility was 85 miles away," Sheriff Tom Sheahan said. "It's going to be a world of difference." A deputy will be reassigned to the Colorado City area, and the center also will be available to deputies from the adjacent Washington County in Utah, Sheahan said. "It should make people feel a lot safer," he said. "They don't have to rely on the local marshals," who are perceived to be controlled by the dominant Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Read more | |
| Polygamist Arrested After Trespassing in His Own House | |
|
KSL TV Channel 5 KSL.com Originally published September 8, 2004 | |
| Police in Colorado City -- the polygamist community on the Utah-Arizona border--arrested a man last night for criminal trespassing .... in the house where he lives! Ross Chatwin made headlines in January for denouncing FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs as a Hitler-like dictator. Since then he's battled Jeffs' group over possession of his house. A judge recently granted Chatwin the right to live in the house for life. But a dispute remains over the upstairs apartment, where Chatwin's brother lives. Yesterday, Chatwin entered the upstairs to change the locks and keep his brother out. That's when he got arrested. Chatwin's sympathizers claim the police acted on orders from the prophet, Warren Jeffs. | |
| Police Probe in Hildale | |
|
KCSG Channel 6 - St. George KCSG.com Originally broadcast September 23, 2004 | |
| The department that certifies police officers for the State of Utah has decided to continue an investigation of police officers in Hildale. The polygamist community is policed by 8 Utah certified officers. Two of the officers are reportedly practicing polygamists. The Police Officers Standards and Training board is considering de-certifying these officers for violating polygamy laws in Utah. The POST investigation follows an investigation conducted earlier this year by the Utah State Attorney General's Office. AG Mark Shurtleff recommended to POST that the police officers be stripped of their certification and, therefore, their police authority. Shurtleff told KCSG News today that he has no intention of bringing criminal charges against the officers. If POST does follow-through with decertifying the police officers, the officers can accept the ruling, or appeal the decision to a civil hearings officer for a final judgment. | |
| Hildale police officers may face decertification | |
| State officials say law enforcement, polygamy don't mix | |
|
By Jennifer Dobner and Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, September 23, 2004 | |
| SANDY — State officials will seek to decertify Hildale police officers who are practicing polygamy — including Chief of Police Sam Roundy. Utah's POST Council, the governing body for the state police academy known as Peace Officer Standards and Training, voted unanimously Wednesday to move forward with an investigation begun last year into the Hildale police department. "If they're going to look at us for polygamy, they better look at every police officer in the state to see which ones have broken any laws of any kind," Roundy said Wednesday evening. "We're trying to live our religion. How many police officers around the state have stepped out on their wives or committed adultery? That's against the law, too." Roundy was one of seven officers identified in a June report from the Utah Attorney General's office which said some in the Hildale department had either violated state law or knew of violations, primarily for bigamy. Two officers, including Roundy, are believed to be polygamists, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Wednesday. Read more | |
| Polygamy abusers in uniform deserve harsh treatment | |
|
Topic Opinion Provo Daily Herald Originally published Sunday, September 26, 2004 | |
| File this one under "Duh." The Utah Peace Officers Standards and Training Council, the entity that establishes the rules for Utah's police officers, has decided it will punish police officers who practice polygamy. The POST Council decided such officers are breaking their oath to uphold the law. The decision came after the conviction of Rodney Holm, a police officer in the polygamist enclave of Hildale, on charges of unlawful sex with a minor. He had taken a teenager as a polygamist wife. Holm was sentenced to a year in prison for the offense. The fact that it took the conviction of a police officer to bring the Officer Standards Council to this momentous decision is a reflection of the ambivalence that prevails in Utah on the question of polygamy. The council's soft stance -- that it will punish (it did not say prosecute) offending officers -- is a reflection of the double standard that prevails. When a Tom Green can be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for a technical violation, and when the very girl he married decades ago is now an adult who, far from wanting out, professes her love for him and has become his chief defender, inequity comes plainly into view. Let's have a little consistency here. If Green can be sent to jail, so should any polygamist police officers. Read more | |
| Commission recommends unseating polygamous Utah judge | |
|
The Associated Press KVOA.com Originally broadcast February 25, 2005 | |
| ST. GEORGE, Utah The Utah Judicial Conduct Commission has recommended that a judge be removed from the bench because he is a polygamist. Walter Steed has served as justice court judge in the polygamous community of Hildale, Utah, since 1980. He's legally married to one woman and married so-called "spiritually" to two other women, and has 32 children. The hearing panel concluded Steed violated his oath of office because he was breaking the law. Steed has raised complex constitutional issues in his defense. The decision whether to boot him from the bench will be made by the Utah Supreme Court. | |
| Sheriff discusses county's growth, law enforcement needs | |
|
By Stacy Brandt Mohave Daily News Originally published Saturday, March 5, 2005 | |
| BULLHEAD CITY - The county will need a new jail soon because of its rapid growth, according to Sheriff Tom Sheahan. The county jail houses about 550 people a day and only has about 400 beds, Sheahan said Saturday morning at the monthly meeting of the Colorado River Republican Forum. About 9,000 people were jailed in the facilities this year, compared with 6,900 in 2002. With a growing population comes more crime, Sheahan said. "There's a lot of work to do, because we have a big future here in Mohave County and a massive influx of people," he said. "Unfortunately not everyone that moves in to the county is going to be a law-abiding citizen." It can be difficult to patrol the entire county, Sheahan said, because of its size and the number of deputies available. "We have to concentrate a minimal amount of officers that we have throughout the entire county," he said. "That's what makes it a real challenge every day." Read more | |
| Police Chief Could Lose Job Due To Polygamy | |
| The state of Utah is cracking down on polygamists, more specifically on those who are in positions of power. | |
|
By John Dunn KSL NewsRadio 1160 Originally broadcast March 16, 2005 | |
| ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- A polygamist police chief could lose his job for that practice. Police Chief Sam Roundy patrols the border towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona. Yesterday, a judge ruled that Roundy was in default because he failed to attend a January hearing that challenged his status as an officer. In October, the Utah Division of Peace Officer Standards and Training filed a complaint against Roundy. They allege he's practicing plural marriage, which is a violation of Utah's constitution and state law prohibiting bigamy. Roundy did not deny he has more than one wife. He said he did not attend the hearing because he believed the issue would be reviewed at the upcoming Utah POST meeting. The meeting is scheduled next week in St. George. A formal vote is expected to approve Roundy's peace officer certification be revoked. | |
| Polygamist officers face loss of badges | |
|
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, March 16, 2005 | |
| ST. GEORGE — Colorado City town marshal Sam Roundy is facing the loss of his badge and job of 11 years if Utah takes away his right to patrol the plural community he lives in along the Utah/Arizona border. Administrative Law Judge Richard Wyss ruled that Roundy was in default because he failed to attend a Jan. 26 hearing that challenged his status as a peace officer. The Utah Division of Peace Officer Standards and Training filed a complaint against Roundy in October 2004, alleging he was practicing plural marriage in violation of Utah's constitution and state law prohibiting bigamy. Roundy did not deny on Tuesday that he has more than one wife. He said he did not attend the hearing in Salt Lake City because he believed the issue would be reviewed at the upcoming Utah POST meeting next week. "They juiced up that report. They put things in there that I did not say," said Roundy of the investigator's report provided to Wyss at the hearing. Roundy is fiercely protective of his family and said that he is living an important tenet of his religion by having more than one wife. Roundy is a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, whose members openly practice plural marriage. Read more | |
| Polygamous Police Chief May Lose Badge | |
| Polygamous Police Chief Faces Losing His Badge in Utah; Officer Says It's Religious Persecution | |
|
The Associated Press ABC News Originally published March 16, 2005 | |
| ST. GEORGE, Utah Mar 16, 2005 — A polygamous police chief who patrols his own small Arizona town and one across the border in Utah may lose his status as a peace officer in both states. Administrative Law Judge Richard Wyss has recommended Utah revoke certification for Colorado City, Ariz., Police Chief Sam Roundy. The Utah Division of Peace Officer Standards and Training, meeting next week, is expected to approve that recommendation, said Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith. Roundy and his officers also patrol nearby Hildale, Utah. Both small communities are dominated by The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; Utah and Arizona prohibit polygamy in their state constitutions. Colorado City's seven-member police force is cross-certified to work in both states. "Every cop has a religion, but religion doesn't run my job," Roundy told the Deseret Morning News on Tuesday. "We grew up in this culture and we're part of it. It's religious persecution going after polygamy, that's all it is." Roundy said he expected Arizona would probably also revoke his certification if Utah did. The Arizona board earlier voted to consider revisions that would allow it to address concerns related to polygamy. The same body tried to revoke a former Colorado City town marshal's certification on the same polygamy charge. The board was rebuffed by an Arizona administrative judge who ruled there was no evidence to suggest the official was unable to do his job. | |
| Colorado City police chief may lose job | |
|
The Spectrum TheSpectrum.com Originally published March 17, 2005 | |
| ST. GEORGE - The police chief in the polygamous border town of Colorado City, Ariz., is facing decertification in Utah for having multiple wives. Chief Sam Roundy and his officers also patrol nearby Hildale, Utah - just across the state line in the 10,000-person communities dominated by The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Administrative Law Judge Richard Wyss ruled that Roundy was in default because he failed to attend a Jan. 26 hearing that challenged his status as a peace officer. The Utah Division of Peace Officer Standards and Training filed a complaint against Roundy in October 2004, alleging he was practicing plural marriage in violation of Utah's constitution and state law prohibiting bigamy. In an interview Tuesday with the Deseret Morning News, Roundy said polygamists in the town were being unfairly targeted because of their religion. "Every cop has a religion, but religion doesn't run my job," Roundy said. "We work closely with other agencies and do our jobs. Utah is saying we don't have the confidence of the people, and it's just the opposite of what they're saying. We grew up in this culture and we're part of it. It's religious persecution going after polygamy, that's all it is." Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith said Roundy's certification is in question because he is in violation of the law. Polygamous officers have sworn to uphold the law but violate the bigamy statute, he said. Read more | |
| State revokes badges of polygamist officer, chief | |
|
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, March 23, 2005 | |
| ST. GEORGE — In a unanimous decision Tuesday, the Utah Peace Officers Standards and Training Council voted to immediately revoke the certification of two police officers who are also polygamists. Colorado City town marshal Sam Roundy and officer Vance Barlow will be notified by Utah POST of the council's decision, said Jim Eardley, a Washington County commissioner who also serves on the POST council. "They were decertified as of today," Eardley said of the two long-time officers serving in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Washington County. Utah POST held its monthly meeting here in conjunction with a three-day gathering of the Utah Chiefs of Police Association. Roundy, who graduated in 1989 from the Arizona police academy and became Colorado City police chief in 1994, learned of the action through a phone call from a reporter. Roundy declined immediate comment, saying he wanted a couple of days to think things over before responding. Arizona POST executive director Tom Hammarstrom said the two officers likely would face the same sanctions from Arizona. "Utah's action, I'm certain, will initiate the process here," Hammarstrom said Tuesday. "The fact that Utah voted to revoke certification is an important element that we think has to have some impact (on our decision)." Read more | |
| Colorado City police chief decertified in ruling on bigamy case | |
|
By Rachel Olsen The Spectrum Originally published March 23, 2005 | |
| ST. GEORGE - The Utah division of Peace Officer Standards and Training officially voted Tuesday to revoke the state certification of Colorado City Police Chief Sam Roundy, who's department also has jurisdiction over the bordering town of Hildale. No one on the board opposed the motion to uphold the decision to decertify both Roundy and another officer. An internal investigation judge found Roundy to be violating the bigamy laws, as well as improperly handling a child sex abuse case. In that case, Utah POST Director Rich Townsend said Roundy apparently did not properly report the incident to the Division of Child and Family Services. The last time Utah POST decertified a police chief was three years ago when the Gunnison police chief was found to be using or disseminating police information improperly, Townsend said. The Colorado City Police Department, where officers are certified in both Utah and Arizona, patrols the two towns dominated by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The FLDS church, led by Warren Jeffs, constitutes the largest polygamist group in North America. Roundy could not be reached Tuesday for comment about POST's decision. However, in an interview last week with the Deseret Morning News, Roundy said polygamists in the town were being unfairly targeted because of religion. "Every cop has a religion, but religion doesn't run my job," he said. There are still five Colorado City officers who retain their Utah certification as a peace officers. It will now be up to the mayor and City Council to appoint a temporary police chief. Read more | |
| Board could revoke police certification | |
|
e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published Wednesday, April 20, 2005 | |
| ARIZONA – A meeting this morning in Phoenix could decide the fate of two Colorado City police officers and their future in law enforcement in the state of Arizona. According to Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training compliance manager Bob Forry, the board will hear the case against town marshal Sam Roundy and officer Vance Barlow and decide whether or not to initiate proceedings against them. "If they initiate proceedings then at that point a complaint letter will be sent out to the two officers and they will be told they have 30 days to appeal," said Forry. Just a few weeks ago the officers had their certifications revoked by Utah authorities and no longer have police authority in that state. | |
| Sheriff’s Office will be in charge | |
|
e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published Wednesday, April 20, 2005 | |
| COLORADO CITY, Ariz. – The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office will now be in charge of abuse and sex cases in Colorado City. According to Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan, these cases that went to the Department of Economic Security and Child Protective Services had to go through the city Marshall’s Office; however, that is no longer the case. "Now if there are any abuse cases or sex cases that come out of Colorado City that goes to DES, they will no longer go to the Colorado City Marshall’s Office; they are going to go right to the Sheriff’s Office," said Sheahan. Although several civic leaders were not happy about this decision, Sheahan said the public safety and protection of those people is a priority. | |
| Board decides to initiate proceedings | |
|
e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published Thursday, April 21, 2005 | |
| ARIZONA – The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training board decided on Wednesday to initiate proceedings against two Colorado City police officers. Compliance manager Bob Forry said the board will be sending out official letters to Sam Roundy and Vance Barlow and once the letters are received they will have 30 days to appeal the matter. Forry explained what happens if the board doesn’t hear back from them in the 30-day period. "Then it goes back to the board for final action and that final action could be anything from a suspension through a revocation," said Forry. Roundy and Barlow have already had their certifications revoked in Utah. | |
| Board cites Colorado City cops | |
|
By Kristina Davis East Valley Tribune Originally published April 22, 2005 | |
| The state police certification board decided Wednesday to take action against Colorado City’s top police official and a police officer after their certifications were pulled in Utah on accusations of having multiple wives. Police Marshal Samuel M. Roundy and officer Vance W. Barlow will have 30 days to request a hearing with the Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training Board or their state police certifications could be revoked, said executive director Tom Hammarstrom. Roundy and Barlow, who live in the polygamous community of Colorado City on the Arizona-Utah border, also contracted police services to the neighboring town of Hildale, Utah. Their Utah police certifications were pulled March 22 on the grounds they were practicing polygamy, which is illegal in that state. No criminal charges were brought against them. In Arizona, polygamy is not a criminal offense, but it is prohibited under the state Constitution. "We are now taking action against their certification in Arizona based on the fact that they were decertified in Utah," Hammarstrom said. Read more | |
| Officers appeal proceedings | |
|
e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published June 7, 2005 | |
| COLORADO CITY, Ariz. – Two Colorado City Police Officers have requested a hearing that could possibly save their jobs in the state of Arizona. According to Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training compliance manager Bob Forry, the board initiated proceedings against Sam Roundy and Vance Barlow after the state of Utah revoked their police certification. However, Forry said the two responded back to the Arizona board within the 30-day period. "Sam Roundy has indicated that he wants to have a hearing and when we visited with him he said he thought that Mr. Barlow would too," said Forry. Now an independent judge will hold hearings and then the board will have to make a decision on what action, if any, to take against the officers. According to Forry, the board could suspend the officers for a certain period of time or even revoke their officer certification in the whole state of Arizona, like a board in Utah did. Forry said that a board decision wouldn’t come until at least September. | |
| Power plant that served Colorado City-Hildale will be closed | |
|
Associated Press The Arizona Republic Originally published June 15, 2005 | |
| The Twin City power plant, which formerly provided power for the twin polygamist communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, will close July 1. Power manager Lorin Fischer said the wholesale price of natural gas, which fuels the plant, has gone from $1.40 per decatherm when the plant opened in January 1997 to $6.50 per decatherm. "We lost functionality at $2.50," Fischer told the Hildale City Council on Tuesday. "We are planning on mothballing the plant." With the exception of three months last summer, the plant has been idle since January 2004. Fischer said two employees at the generation plant and two working in accounting will be laid off. A lineman also may be laid off. Fischer said one person would remain at the plant to keep things in running condition if the plant is needed for emergencies, and the power company is seeking to restructure the payments with bondholders. The company purchases power from other sources to serve the two communities. In other action Tuesday, the council unanimously approved appointment of Jonathan Roundy as acting police chief. Roundy replaces his brother, Sam Roundy, whose certification was revoked by the Utah Peace Officers Standards and Training Council because he allegedly had plural wives. | |
| Decertification at top of list | |
|
e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published June 22, 2005 | |
| COLORADO CITY, Ariz. – The Arizona Police Officers Standards and Training Board discusses the specific charges against two Colorado City police officers. Unit Manager Bob Forry said there are four specific charges against Officers Sam Roundy and Vance Barlow. "At the top of the list is the fact that both Roundy and Barlow have been decertified in the state of Utah," said Forry. Other charges include bigamy, which is a Felony, and cohabitation in violation of the Arizona Constitution. In an attempt to contact Barlow at his residence, a female responded that she was sure Barlow would have no comment. A hearing requested by the two officers is scheduled for the near future. | |
| Review of Colorado City cops nearing | |
|
e-Press Tri-States News Network Originally published August 29, 2005 | |
| PHOENIX, Ariz. - The hearings by the Arizona Police Standards and Training Board for two Colorado City police officers, Sam Roundy and Vance Barlow, are set for September 15-16. "When her ruling comes back then we take that back to the board and it's at that point that the board will be in a position to take action," said Bob Forry. Forry is in charge of standards and certification for the PSTB. "Anywhere from no action, to a suspension to a revocation." Both officers have already had their peace officer certifications revoked in the state of Utah. | |
| Ex-marshal failed to report abuse | |
| Colorado City child cases involved | |
|
By Mark Shaffer The Arizona Republic - Flagstaff Bureau Originally published September 18, 2005 | |
| The former town marshal of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, never notified Utah child-welfare authorities of sexual abuse cases he was investigating in the polygamist communities and acknowledged cohabiting with a wife and two "companions," with whom he has had 21 children, according to documents released Friday. Samuel N. Roundy, 50, Colorado City's town marshal for 10 years before resigning this year, made those admissions during an interview in October with an investigator for the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board. Transcripts of the interview were released in conjunction with decertification hearings Thursday and Friday in Phoenix for Roundy and another polygamist Colorado City police officer, Vance Barlow. Neither officer attended the hearings. Diana Stabler, an Arizona assistant attorney general, said Roundy and Barlow likely would be stripped of certification as Arizona police officers during the board's next meeting on Oct. 19. Utah revoked the police certifications of the two in March, citing violation of state bigamy statutes. Roundy said he was never a sworn police officer in Utah. Read more | |
| AG seeks civil rights probe of polygamist community's police | |
|
By Paul Davenport The Associated Press Tucson Citizen Originally published September 30, 2005 | |
| PHOENIX - After following the lead of their Utah counterparts by moving to lift the law enforcement certifications of some police officers in a polygamist community, Arizona authorities are seeking a federal civil rights review of the entire Colorado City police department. Attorney General Terry Goddard said many complaints from other law enforcement officials and citizens prompted him to ask U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to have the Justice Department conduct a preliminary inquiry, a step that could lead to a formal investigation and possible legal action. "I believe that the officers of the Colorado City Police Department have engaged in a pattern of practices of conduct that deprives individuals of their constitutional and civil rights," Goddard wrote in a letter to Gonzales. There are reports of young men being forced to leave Colorado City by being threatened with arrest at the same time as they fell out of favor with the polygamist sect that dominates the community and that police turned a deaf ear to the complaints of women who have been forced into marriage or subjected to violence, Goddard said in an interview Friday. Police officers "seem to be aiding and abetting criminal activity," Goddard said. Read more | |
| Arizona investigates former Colorado City Police Chief | |
|
The Spectrum TheSpectrum.com Originally published October 19, 2005 | |
| ST. GEORGE — The Arizona Peace Officers Standard and Training office is conducting a hearing today to determine the certification status of former Colorado City Police Chief Sam Roundy. Roundy retired June 30 after a Utah investigation found him in violation of bigamy laws, as well as improperly handling a child sex abuse case. In that case, Utah POST Director Rich Townsend said Roundy apparently did not properly report the incident to the Division of Child and Family Services. The Colorado City Police Department, where officers are certified in both Utah and Arizona, patrols the two towns dominated by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The FLDS church, led by Warren Jeffs, constitutes the largest polygamist group in North America. For more, see Thursday's edition of The Spectrum/Daily News. | |
| State board strips 2 polygamist cops of certifications | |
|
Associated Press The Arizona Republic Originally published October 19, 2005 | |
| Arizona's law enforcement certification board voted unanimously Wednesday to revoke the certifications of two police officers accused of practicing polygamy in a community dominated by a church that encourages multiple wives. The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board acted after a state attorney said the officers' practice of polygamy undermines public trust in law enforcement. "This can't be tolerated," Assistant Attorney General Diana Stabler said. "The state can't engage in benign neglect." Even though many or most of Colorado City's residents embrace polygamy, the standing of law enforcement statewide is at stake when questions are raised about law officers turning a blind eye to forced marriages and marriage-like unions involving underage girls, Stabler said. "You have to take a broad view of the public trust and what community we're talking about," Stabler said. Stabler acknowledged that a predecessor agency to the Arizona POST Board refused in 1990 to decertify Colorado City's then-marshal on the basis of his practicing polygamy, instead deciding that it amounted to cohabitation - something being practiced by law officers in communities across the state. "It was really a naive time back then," the attorney said. Read more | |
| Two Colorado City officers lose certification | |
|
The Associated Press KPHO News 5 - Phoenix Originally broadcast October 19, 2005 | |
| PHOENIX Arizona's law enforcement certification board voted unanimously today to revoke the certifications of two Colorado City police officers. The action by the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board came after an assistant attorney general said both officers' practice of polygamy undermines public trust in law enforcement. Specific grounds for the decertifications of Vance Walker Barlow and Sam Roundy include violating the Arizona constitution's ban on polygamy and an Utah board's finding that both men engaged in bigamy, a felony in that state. Colorado City is located on the Arizona-Utah line and is dominated by a polygamist church. Roundy is the former chief of the city police force there. An Arizona investigator says both are still officers on the force. | |
| Arizona strips officers' badges because of polygamist lifestyles | |
|
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, October 21, 2005 | |
| ST. GEORGE — Former Colorado City town marshal Sam Roundy resigned from his position of more than 10 years at the end of July, taking a wait-and-see attitude toward his possible decertification by Arizona authorities. "I'm working construction now," said Roundy during a telephone interview several weeks after turning in his resignation. "I'm just taking care of my family." On Wednesday, Arizona's law-enforcement certification board voted unanimously to strip Roundy and another officer, Vance Barlow, of their badges, said Robert Forry, standards and certification unit manager at Arizona POST. "There was a compelling, complete presentation of the two cases to the board for final action," said Forry. "Neither one of them attended the meeting and there was little discussion before the vote was taken." Roundy and Barlow will receive a certified letter detailing the board's position, he said, and decertification will follow in 30 days. Read more | |
| Polygamist unfit for bench? | |
| High court to hear arguments on S. Utah judge with 3 wives | |
|
By Linda Thomson Deseret Morning News Originally published Monday, October 31, 2005 | |
| An admitted polygamist justice court judge in southern Utah contends he shouldn't be ousted from the bench for practicing consensual bigamy. He argues his marital status is protected by the U.S. and state constitutions and doesn't affect his judicial work. But the state's judicial watchdog agency insists Walter Steed's behavior interferes with justice and brings a judicial office into disrepute. The Judicial Conduct Commission has asked the Utah Supreme Court to remove Steed from office. The high court will hear the case Wednesday in the J. Reuben Clark School of Law at Brigham Young University. Steed has been a municipal court justice in the largely polygamous community of Hildale since 1980. He has admitted he engaged in consensual bigamy with three adult women with whom he has a total of 32 children. He married the first wife in a state-recognized civil ceremony in 1965 and married the other two in 1975 and 1985, respectively, in religious ceremonies of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which encourages polygamous or plural marriages. The commission contends Steed's marriages violate the state's bigamy law, which forbids taking another spouse while still married, purporting to marry another individual, or cohabiting with another person. Bigamy is a third-degree felony. Read more | |
| Utah Supreme Court to decide status of polygamous judge | |
|
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press San Diego Union-Tribune Originally published November 1, 2005 | |
| SALT LAKE CITY – For 25 years Walter Steed has served the tiny southern Utah border town of Hildale as a Justice Court judge, handing down rulings on drunken driving and domestic violence charges. Now, after acknowledging that as part of his religion he is living in a plural marriage with three wives, he's facing an order to give up his post. The Utah Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case Wednesday at Brigham Young University in Provo. Utah's Judicial Conduct Commission issued an order seeking Steed's removal from the bench in February, after a 14-month investigation determined Steed is a polygamist and as such had violated Utah's bigamy law. Bigamy is a third-degree felony in Utah punishable by up to five years in prison and fines up to $5,000. The initial complaint against Steed was filed with the commission in November 2003 by Tapestry Against Polygamy, an advocacy group founded by ex-polygamous women who organized to help others leave the handful of secretive religious colonies that practice the principle. The case is the first of its kind, said Colin Winchester, the commission's executive director. "If you are taking the constitutional oath office to uphold the law you should not be breaking the law," Winchester said. Read more | |
| Polygamist judge case comes to BYU | |
|
By Abbey Olsen, Associate Copy Chief BYU NewsNet Originally published November 2, 2005 | |
| The Utah Judicial Conduct Commission’s recommendation to remove from office a Hildale justice court judge who practices plural marriage will be reviewed by the Utah Supreme Court Nov. 2 at the BYU J. Reuben Clark Law School. After an investigation and a hearing Jan. 20, the Judicial Conduct Commission concluded Justice Court Judge Walter K. Steed brought the judiciary into disrepute by willfully engaging in consensual bigamy with three adult women. Bigamy is a third degree felony under Utah law. Although Steed has not been charged with or convicted of bigamy, the Commission found his actions violated judicial ethical conduct. The Commission issued Steed’s order of removal from office Feb. 8, although it cannot be implemented until reviewed by the Utah Supreme Court. The Utah Constitution requires the Utah Supreme Court to review an order of removal and approve, modify or reject it. Steed’s lawyer will argue Nov. 2 before the Utah Supreme Court that Steed’s conduct is constitutionally protected and is not grounds for judicial discipline. Read more | |
| Utah Supreme Court hears arguments on removing polygamous judge | |
|
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press San Diego Union-Tribune Originally published November 2, 2005 | |
| PROVO, Utah – A small-town judge ordered removed from office because he has three wives says his polygamy should not be grounds for removing him from the bench. "As long as I can do my job, why should I (be removed)?" Justice Court Judge Walter Steed asked Wednesday outside a courtroom at Brigham Young University where the Utah Supreme Court heard oral arguments. The state Judicial Conduct Commission in February sought Steed's removal after a 14-month investigation determined he had violated Utah's bigamy law. Bigamy is a third-degree felony in Utah. Steed has served for 25 years in the southern Utah border town of Hildale, presiding over cases such as drunken driving and domestic violence. He told reporters after the hearing he doesn't feel persecuted by the removal action. "I feel like there's an issue – the constitutionality of the bigamy statute – that needs to be decided," said Steed, who is a truck driver by trade and a part-time judge. "If I can be a vehicle to help decide it, I don't feel picked on." Read more | |
| State's top court hears polygamous judge's case | |
|
By Michael Rigert Provo Daily Herald Originally published Thursday, November 3, 2005 | |
| Taking its docket on the road, the Utah Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a packed classroom at Brigham Young University in the case of a justice court judge facing possible removal from the bench for having three wives. Walter Steed of Hildale, a widely known polygamous community along Utah's southern border, has served as a justice court judge for 25 years. But the state Judicial Conduct Commission learned two years ago he was married to three women. "As long as I can do my job, why should I (be removed)?" Steed asked Wednesday outside the courtroom at BYU, The Associated Press reported. The commission was tipped off about Steed's marital status in November 2003 by Tapestry Against Polygamy, an advocacy group founded by ex-polygamous women seeking to help others leave plural marriages. Based on a 14-month investigation of Steed ending in February, Utah's Judicial Conduct Commission told the state Supreme Court the judge's relationship with the women violates the state's bigamy law and ordered his removal from the bench. "I feel like there's an issue -- the constitutionality of the bigamy statute -- that needs to be decided," said Steed, according to the AP. "If I can be a vehicle to help decide it, I don't feel picked on." Read more | |
| Polygamist Judge Says He'll Give Up Job Rather Than Give Up Wives | |
|
ABC 4 News abc4.com Originally broadcast November 3, 2005 | |
| (ABC 4 News) -- Wednesday, polygamy went on trial in an historic case before the state supreme court. At issue, is whether a polygamist judge should remain on the bench. Walter Steed is a justice court judge in the Utah border town of Hildale and has been for the past 25 years. Now, the Utah Judicial Conduct Commission wants Steed removed from the bench ... essentially saying ... you can't rule on the law if you're breaking the law. Walter Steed not only has a quarter century on the bench, but also three wives and 32 kids. The issue before Utah's supreme court is this - Is bigamy a crime to be punished or a religious practice to be constitutionally protected? This unique case is not only making headlines here in Utah, but around the country as well. Read more | |
| Editorial: Toss out polygamist judge | |
|
San Antonio Express-News mysanantonio.com Originally published November 5, 2005 | |
| Judges are generally held to a different standard, but it needs to be a higher standard, not a lower one. Judge Walter Steed is fighting to keep his bench in Utah. The state's Commission on Judicial Conduct wants him removed from office because he is a polygamist with three wives — and 32 children. Steed's lawyer claims he should be allowed to keep his judicial post because he has not tarnished his office with his private behavior. Attorney Rodney Parker argues that while drug abuse might be grounds for dismissal, being married to three sisters should not be, the Associated Press reports. Parker would be wise to consult his state's criminal code. Bigamy in Utah is a felony. Conviction carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. As a judge, Steed's job is to uphold the law. He can't pick and chose which laws he wants to acknowledge for himself. | |
| Judge Not | |
| If a judge can have more than one wife, what’s stopping you? | |
|
By Ben Fulton Editorial Salt Lake City Weekly Originally published November 10, 2005 | |
| Few issues in Utah are as simultaneously boring and yet thoroughly exciting as polygamy. For proof, talk to a practicing polygamist. After a long sermon about all the "great" men — and we do mean men — of the Old Testament who married more than one woman you’ll usually get treated to this central question. A practicing polygamist in Bountiful, British Columbia, posed the question this way. "Are you going to tell me that in all your life you’ve never had sex with more than one woman?" he asked. One turn deserves another and, in truth, reporters ought to climb down from their podiums more often. "No," I answered. But the trump in my hand was that I’d never ventured below the age of consent, either. Nor has Walter Steed, who married three women, all sisters, in the rational haze of their adulthood. Each nuptial was spaced 10 years apart, too, apparently so Steed could properly digest one wife before moving on to the next. Read more | |
| Polygamist Judge fights for his job | |
|
By Carli Saracino Salt Lake Community College Globe Originally published Friday, November 11, 2005 | |
| A Hildale judge, Walter Steed, is fighting to stay on the bench after it was revealed that he currently has three wives. Steed was found by Utah's Judicial Conduct Commission to be a polygamist and the case to remove him as a judge is now being brought before the state's Supreme Court. Steed and his attorney, Rodney Parker, are arguing that the judge's private behavior does not influence his ability to rule in court. "As long as I can do my job, why should I [be removed]?" Steed asked the Chicago Sun-Times. Steed has been a judge for over 25 years, ruling mostly on cases involving domestic violence and drunken driving charges. Those seeking to have Steed removed argue that the offense has more to do with the legality of his personal lifestyle, because bigamy is a felony in the state of Utah. "Judges are expected to live to a different standard," Colin Winchester told the Times. Read more | |
| The judge's three wives | |
|
Editorial Toledo Blade - Toledo, Ohio Originally published Sunday, November 13, 2005 | |
| A Utah judge wants his seat back on the Fifth District Court, but he has a problem. He's in violation of the state's bigamy laws. Maybe he shouldn't be a judge at all. Judge Walter Steed has three "wives," and he's taking his case to the state Supreme Court. We are a nation of laws, and judges are sworn to uphold them. Utah's high court should have no trouble finding him unfit to sit on any court bench. If the court refuses, and he returns to the bench, it is hard to see how any Utah court could ever fairly convict and sentence a bigamist. The rules are clear: Bigamy in Utah is a third-degree felony that can bring a penalty of up to five years in prison. It's a shame that it took so long before Judge Steed - a trigamist, actually - was outed. He has been a judge in Hildale, Utah, for 25 years, ruling on domestic violence and drunken driving cases. Read more | |
| Judges must adhere to Utah laws | |
|
Opinion The Spectrum Originally published November 14, 2005 | |
| The Utah Supreme Court recently heard arguments from the Judicial Conduct Commission that Steed, who has served Hildale since 1981, should be removed from the bench because he is an admitted polygamist. Steed reportedly has three wives and 32 children. Justice court judges usually don't make any decisions related to serious crimes. Instead, they oversee cases involving traffic violations and misdemeanors. Those types of crimes are far removed from the actions of some polygamists who have had sex with children and who have, in effect, stolen from taxpayers via welfare fraud. But this case against Steed digs further than what it appears to do on the surface. Read more | |
| Decision on fate of polygamous judge overdue | |
|
By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published February 22, 2006 | |
| ST. GEORGE - A Utah Supreme Court decision on the possible removal of polygamous Hildale Justice Court Judge Walter Steed is three weeks overdue. Judicial Conduct Commission executive director Colin Winchester said this is the first time a decision for the commission has been late. Steed, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has been serving as the Hildale Justice Court Judge for the last 24 years. The Judicial Conduct Commission is trying to remove Steed from the bench because by his own admission he has 32 children by three wives. Steed holds court twice a month and is paid about $350 per month. During the course of the year, the five Utah Supreme Court judges hear about 90 to 100 cases, Supreme Court Clerk Pat Bartholomew said. Of those, only two or three cases a year are for the Judicial Conduct Commission. But, according to state code 78-107-7 paragraph 8 section C, the court is to make the decision within 90 days of the date when oral arguments are completed. Arguments in Steed's case concluded on Nov. 2. Read more | |
| Rogue Cops | |
| The police force in Polygamyland helps fugitive Prophet Warren Jeffs and his cult break the law | |
|
By John Dougherty Phoenix New Times Originally published February 23, 2006 | |
| The Colorado City Marshal's Office is in a state of insurrection. And nobody in authority -- from Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano on down -- seems to give a damn. As the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Prophet Warren Jeffs exerts absolute control over the Colorado City marshal's office -- even as he eludes a nationwide manhunt. The polygamist prophet has been on the FBI's most wanted list since last August. The marshal's office is the police department for Colorado City and adjoining Hildale, Utah, just across the state line. The polygamist enclave on the Arizona Strip has been controlled for more than 70 years by the FLDS, a breakaway sect of the mainstream Mormon Church. In two stunning depositions given Friday, February 17, the chief of police and another police officer both repudiated the state laws they are sworn to uphold along with the authority of a Utah judge. Colorado City Police Chief Fred Barlow and Officer Sam Johnson made it clear that their renegade police force bows strictly to the demands of the FLDS, which of course means it answers finally to Prophet Jeffs. Read more | |
| State court removes polygamous judge | |
| Hildale mayor says no decision made yet on how to replace Steed | |
|
By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published February 25, 2006 | |
| HILDALE - The Utah Supreme Court came down with a decision on Friday to remove Hildale Justice Court Judge Walter Steed. The court's decision was made public on Friday, almost three weeks past the 90-day deadline for rendering a decision. Hildale Mayor David Zitting said he wasn't sure what the city would do to replace Steed, who has served as the justice court judge for 25 years in the community, which is predominately made up of members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, whose members practice polygamy. Steed, by his own admission, has three wives and has fathered 32 children. The Utah Supreme Court ordered Steed's removal because he "is flaunting the prohibitions of the bigamy statute." "It takes certain training and qualifications to replace a judge and I don't think we will rush into it," Zitting said. "You can't replace someone overnight." Court will still be in session on Saturday and former Hurricane Justice Court Judge Richard Carr will be filling in, Zitting said. Read more | |
| Colorado City law officers warned | |
|
By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published March 29, 2006 | |
| ST. GEORGE -Law enforcement officers with the Colorado City Marshal's Office have been notified in writing and in person by Peace Officers Standards and Training officials in Utah and Arizona that if officers are not carrying out their duties, they will be replaced. The problems with officers from the marshal's office, which includes a chief, four officers and a reserve officer certified in both Arizona and Utah, stem mainly from refusing to take action in what the police called "civil matters" and defying court orders. Since last May when Bruce Wisan, a Salt Lake City certified public accountant, was named the court-appointed special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan Trust, the financial arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, he has been the overseer of all church-owned property. Despite the court order, equipment and several buildings have been dismantled and removed from UEP property. Soliciting help from officers of the polygamist communities of Hildale and Colorado City has been unsuccessful. "I need law enforcement cooperation," Wisan said. "The real test is whether Hildale and Colorado City police will function as true law enforcement officers or function as an arm of the church." Read more | |
| Decertify defiant officers | |
|
Opinion The Spectrum Originally published March 31, 2006 | |
| We place a great deal of trust in our police officers. We see them in our daily lives in our communities. We count on them to keep us safe. They are role models for local youth. Police officers are a powerful symbol of our collective belief in the rule of law, and we therefore expect them to follow the laws. That's why it's hard to have any respect for the men who currently call themselves "law enforcement officers" in the twin polygamist border communities of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz. They do not appear to have any regard for the rule of law. Hildale/Colorado City Marshal Fred Barlow and his deputies have refused to help "outsiders" such as Bruce Wisan, the state appointed trustee for the United Effort Plan. Wisan has been trying to help the people of the two communities by sorting out who has a right to what private property. Wisan has met with stonewalling and less than energetic efforts when he has made requests of Barlow and his staff. For example, when asked in a deposition, Barlow has claimed to know little about the names and addresses of various people in the community, even though he has lived there his whole life. Read more | |
| Attorneys question Hildale police | |
| Equipment owned by court-controlled trust is disappearing | |
|
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, April 20, 2006 | |
| HURRICANE — Attorneys are hauling in police officers to give depositions about buildings and farm equipment that have mysteriously vanished from the polygamous border towns of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., in violation of a court order. Helaman Barlow, a deputy town marshal in Colorado City, sat for more than two hours Wednesday in a conference room inside a bank in this southern Utah town. Preston Barlow was also brought in to answer questions, said Jeffrey L. Shields, a lawyer for the special fiduciary appointed by the courts to oversee the United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust, the financial arm of the Fundamentalist LDS Church. "It's all of the property that we think has been removed unlawfully from UEP land," Shields told the Deseret Morning News. More officers are expected to be brought in today and Friday. Officer Mica Barlow was also subpoenaed to appear in Hurricane, but he is currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshal's Office after refusing to respond to a subpoena to testify before a federal grand jury in Arizona. The grand jury is reportedly investigating the FLDS Church and its fugitive leader, Warren Jeffs. Some of the Hildale-Colorado City police officers — who are members of the FLDS Church, which has long been headquartered in the border towns — have repeatedly refused to answer lawyers' questions about a grain elevator system that was dismantled in December and other property that has disappeared from Hildale and Colorado City. Read more | |
| Colorado City officers fight back | |
|
Deseret Morning News Originally published Sunday, April 30, 2006 | |
| BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. — Police officers in the polygamous border towns of Hildale and Colorado City are fighting back. In court papers filed in Mohave County, Ariz., Superior Court, town marshals Jonathan Roundy, Fred Barlow and Sam Johnson attack claims made by a lawyer for the court-appointed special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan Trust. The lawyers have been investigating the theft of a grain elevator system from land owned by the UEP and say the Colorado City Town Marshal's Office did nothing to stop it from being stolen. "The UEP has only held Real Property for the last fifty years (not saying it can't hold personal property) but there is no listing of the personal properties' on the UEP's assets only real property," the officers wrote in court papers they filed themselves. In a police report, the officers claim 4-Square owner Joseph Johnson wanted to sell the grain elevator system and also question the authority of the special fiduciary. A judge will hold a hearing on May 18 to decide whether the police officers must answer the questions or face contempt of court charges. | |
| Sheriff to add forces in Colo. City | |
|
By David Bell Today's News-Herald - Havasu City Originally published Saturday, May 13, 2006 | |
| Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan said he's ready to station more deputies in the polygamous community of Colorado City. Sheahan was in the northern Mohave County enclave earlier this week, helping serve Grand Jury subpoenas to Town Marshall's officers. "The Marshall's Office professes its allegiance to (FLDS leader Warren) Jeffs over their duty as peace officers. They profess it over their allegiance to the state and U.S. Constitutions," Sheahan said. "While these officers testify before the Grand Jury, we will be sending extra deputies to enforce the law." Early attempts to serve the officers were met with nothing. When Sheahan and his Washington County (Utah) counterpart Sheriff Kirk Smith went to the Colorado City Hall and Town Marshall's office they found the building locked and no employees except for one dispatcher. That dispatcher said all of the city's officials were out of the community. However Sheahan was able to make contact with the city manager but only by phone. Four members of local police force were eventually served. Two others have been missing for a few weeks but Sheahan said he's confident they'll be tracked down. Read more | |
| Officers Testify Before Arizona Grand Jury | |
|
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press KUTV Channel 2 Originally published May 18, 2006 | |
| Police services in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, were shut down for at least one day this week when all five officers were called to appear before a state grand jury in Phoenix, the Mohave County, Ariz., sheriff said Thursday. Sheriff Tom Sheahan said his office served subpoenas on Chief Fred Barlow and his four officers over the past two weeks. Andrea Esquer, spokeswoman for Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, said she could not confirm or deny the existence of a grand jury, the proceedings of which would be secret. The hearing was held Wednesday in Phoenix's Maricopa County Superior Court. Chief Fred Barlow, who like his officers is certified in both Arizona and Utah, did not return multiple telephone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment. Colorado City resident Isaac Wyler said he telephoned police dispatch Wednesday seeking help from an officer and was told "no officers are in town today." Read more | |
| Are local cops losing their grip on polygamist communities? | |
|
By Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally broadcast May 25, 2006 | |
| It is the worst kept secret around Hilldale and Colorado City. Just about everyone in the twin towns on the Utah - Arizona border know that their local cops -- five full-time and one reservist -- have been hauled before a grand jury in Phoenix. They also know that one did not come back from his appointment with the grand jury. Despite the secrecy that is supposed to protect grand jury proceedings, it is common knowledge that Officer Micah Barlow is cooling his heels in the Central Arizona Detention Center in Florence, Arizona for apparently running afoul of that grand jury. Based on interviews with former polygamists who are now living both in and out of Colorado City and Hilldale, ABC 4 News has learned that for several years now the marshals have done the bidding of Polygamist Leader Warren Jeffs. They have enforced the eviction of followers from their homes. They have turned a blind eye to the harassment of dissidents within the community. They have sworn an oath to uphold the law, but their only real loyalty is to Jeffs. Read more | |
| Utah POST to seek action against officer | |
|
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Deseret Morning News Originally published June 29, 2006 | |
| Utah's police academy will seek disciplinary action against an officer from a polygamist border town who ignored a subpoena from an Arizona grand jury and was subsequently jailed for contempt of court. Maj. Rich Townsend, director of the Utah Peace Officer Standards And Training Academy, said he'll seek action against Mica S. Barlow when the POST Council, the academy's governing board, resumes its meetings in September. "This should not happen," Townsend said. "These officers are officers of the court, and they are sworn to uphold the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state they operate in. When they don't, they are violating the peace officer's code of ethics." Barlow, 36, is a police officer with the Colorado City, Ariz., marshal's office. He is also certified by the state of Utah, as are most of the department's officers. A telephone message seeking comment from Colorado City Town Marshal Fred Barlow was not immediately returned. On April 5, Mica Barlow disregarded a subpoena to testify before a federal grand jury in Phoenix. U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton issued a warrant for his arrest on a contempt charge. Barlow surrendered to authorities April 6 and remains incarcerated at the Central Arizona Detention Facility in Florence. The judge's order says Barlow is to remain in jail until he cooperates with authorities, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Read more | |
| Utah may punish Arizona officer | |
| Barlow in jail for refusing to testify | |
|
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Sunday, July 2, 2006 | |
| While police officer Mica Barlow sits in a jail cell in Florence, Ariz., authorities in Utah are seeking to punish him for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury. The Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Council said Thursday that it will seek disciplinary action against Barlow. He is an officer in the Colorado City, Ariz., Town Marshal's Office but is cross-deputized to serve in Utah. Refusing to testify before the grand jury "is exactly what the officers of Hildale and Colorado City were warned not to do," said Major Rich Townsend, the director of Utah POST. "When you're under court order to answer questions as an officer of the law, you answer questions. It's really as simple as that." Barlow is refusing to testify before a federal grand jury in Phoenix. The grand jury is believed to be looking into the Fundamentalist LDS Church and its fugitive leader, Warren Jeffs. Barlow, 36, was arrested in April on contempt-of-court charges after he refused to testify. James Allred, 58, the assistant postmaster for the Hildale-Colorado City post office, was also jailed for refusing to testify. Read more | |
| Civil Rights Violations Alleged By Ex-FLDS Man | |
|
The Associated Press KUTV Channel 2 Originally published August 1, 2006 | |
| A former member of a southern Utah polygamist church has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit claiming police handcuffed him and tossed him out of his Hildale home last year because he was no longer loyal to the faith. Andrew Chatwin said he filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City because police and other city officials in Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., are more loyal to leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - who have long dominated both communities - than to the U.S. Constitution. "The police department and really the whole Colorado City-Hildale government is a theocracy government. They're run by the church," Chatwin said Tuesday. "That's really the appropriate word for what's going on down there and we're exposing that theocracy." Named as defendants in the lawsuit are Colorado City-Hildale police officers Fred Barlow, Helaman Barlow and Jonathan Roundy. They were served notice of the lawsuit on Monday. Hildale City is also named as defendant and Hildale Mayor David Zitting was served notice last week, said Sam Brower, a private investigator hired to serve the notices. Read more | |
| Johnson: Polygamy runs the show | |
|
By David Bell Today's News-Herald - Lake Havasu City, Arizona Originally published Monday, September 4, 2006 | |
| It doesn't matter that their religious leader is behind bars; the Colorado City Police still are following his orders. That's what Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson said he found when he went to the northern Arizona community late last week. Johnson's attempt to help a fellow fighter of the abuses in Colorado City ran the duo afoul of the local law. "Flora Jessop was with me, and she wanted to check in on her sister and her mom. So we went to the Utah side for her mother, and the Colorado City Police refused her access. It got pretty heated until a Mohave County Sheriff's Deputy got there to calm the situation down," said Johnson. State Rep. David Lujan and Donnalee Sarda, regional director for the Arizona chapter of Justice for Children, joined Johnson and Jessop in their visit to Colorado City. Jessop is a former a member of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a sect that practices polygamy in Colorado City and adjoining city of Hildale, Utah. Johnson has been working with Jessop on battling the abuses in the community for more than a decade. He said his latest push is to remove the local police from power. Read more | |
| Officer resigns after stint in prison for contempt | |
|
The Associated Press KVOA News 4 - Tucson Originally published September 10, 2006 | |
| COLORADO CITY, Ariz. -- Nine days after ending a five-month stint in prison for refusing to answer the questions of a federal grand jury, a deputy town marshal has resigned his job policing this Arizona-Utah border community that is home to an insular polygamist sect. Town Marshal Fred Barlow informed Utah police certification officials Monday of Deputy Mica S. Barlow's resignation, said Maj. Rich Townsend, director of Utah's Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) academy. Arizona's POST received the same call Wednesday, academy compliance manager Bob Forry said. There is no phone listing for Mica Barlow in Colorado City, and he could not immediately be contacted. A public records request submitted by The Associated Press on Friday to Colorado City officials seeking a copy of Barlow's resignation letter was not filled, and Fred Barlow could not be reached for comment. Read more | |
| Police officer resists deposition questions | |
|
The Associated Press KVOA News 4 - Tucson Originally published September 23, 2006 | |
| SALT LAKE CITY -- A police officer from a southern Utah polygamist enclave is seeking a protective order - not because he fears for his safety but because he doesn't want to answer certain questions related to a church trust. Attorney Peter Stirba has filed a motion in 3rd District Court to limit the scope of deposition questions for Helaman Barlow, a deputy town marshal from Colorado City, Ariz., which hugs the Utah border. Barlow is one of at least eight men, several of them officers, who are being pursued for information about the United Effort Plan Trust. The request comes from attorneys for a court-appointed accountant overseeing $100 million in property. The trust was established in the 1940s as the charitable arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a polygamy-practicing sect that dominates every aspect of community life in Colorado City and neighboring Hildale, Utah. But church leaders, including Warren Jeffs, were stripped of control in June 2005, after a judge said they had used assets for personal benefit. Church members, however, have largely ignored the court orders and refused to cooperate with accountant Bruce Wisan and his attorney, Jeff Shields. Barlow and others were first deposed in April, after a grain elevator, a modular building and other property disappeared. Witnesses have said police, including Barlow, refused to comply with court orders and failed to stop the removal. Read more | |
| Officer from polygamist town surrenders his police certification | |
|
Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, November 15, 2006 | |
| A police officer from a polygamist town on Utah's southern border has voluntarily surrendered his certification, ending a state investigation into his refusal to testify before an Arizona grand jury. Mica S. Barlow has signed a consent agreement that permanently revokes his peace officer certification and ends his law enforcement career, said Maj. Rich Townsend, director of Utah's police academy known as POST — Peace Officer Standards and Training. "I guess he realized his career in law enforcement was over," Townsend said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Barlow signed the agreement Sept. 27. His certification revocation will become final after a vote of POST's governing board in December, POST Lt. Steve Winward said. Barlow worked for the Colorado City Town Marshal's Office, a small department which provides public safety services for Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. and where deputies hold certifications from both states. Arizona officials are seeking a similar consent agreement from Barlow, although it's not yet in hand, Arizona POST Deputy Director Lyle Mann said. Read more | |
| FLDS policeman seeks judge's help | |
|
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, November 29, 2006 | |
| A police officer in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., is asking a judge to protect him — from the lawyers for the man in charge of the Fundamentalist LDS Church's financial arm. A judge in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court will consider today whether or not to grant a protective order to Hildale/Colorado City Town Marshal Helaman Barlow. The protective order seeks to limit the kinds of questions that lawyers for the United Effort Plan Trust can ask. "In his deposition, Deputy Barlow was repeatedly asked questions about members of his church, about his belief in his church, about the organization of the church and about its leadership," Barlow's lawyer, Barbara Townsend, wrote in a motion for a protective order filed Sept. 21. "Not only are these inquiries far afield from the subject matter of this case, they seek privileged information." Barlow is standing by his First Amendment right to freedom of religion. Lawyers for court-appointed special fiduciary Bruce Wisan have been grilling Barlow about FLDS leader Warren Jeffs and UEP property that has disappeared. In court papers, they have characterized Barlow as a "defiant witness who repeatedly gave evasive answers, who utterly refused to provide testimony as to a number of relevant areas of inquiry." Read more | |
| Judge rejects officer's effort to avoid questioning on FLDS | |
| Deposition ordered, and the man must pay attorney costs | |
|
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, November 30, 2006 | |
| A judge has denied a police officer's request for a protective order to stop lawyers from questioning him about the Fundamentalist LDS Church and captured polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. Deputy Hildale/Colorado City Town Marshal Helaman Barlow's request was not only denied but a judge granted a lawyer's motion to compel him to answer deposition questions. "Mr. Barlow is being, in some cases, deliberately obtuse," Judge Denise P. Lindberg said during a hearing Monday in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court. She also ordered him to pay attorney costs for the court battle. Lawyers said that would amount to about $10,000. Barlow will have to continue his deposition concerning missing property that belongs to the United Effort Plan Trust, the financial arm of the FLDS Church. However, questions about the polygamist church and its leadership may be tweaked a little bit. "When counsel are there, the questioning usually is more narrow and will be less problematic," Barlow's lawyer Peter Stirba told the Deseret Morning News outside of court. Read more | |
| Police under fire in polygamy areas | |
|
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, December 7, 2006 | |
| SANDY — Police officers in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., are under investigation by the agency that disciplines cops. The Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training Council voted Wednesday to put the entire Hildale/Colorado City Town Marshal's Office under investigation over their loyalties to Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs. "We feel like this police department is Warren Jeffs' private goon squad on taxpayer dollars," lawyer Zachary Shields told the council. He is representing the court-appointed special fiduciary of the FLDS Church's financial arm, the United Effort Plan Trust. Jeffs is currently in Washington County's Purgatory Jail awaiting a preliminary hearing on charges of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. He is accused of arranging a child bride marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. Jeffs is scheduled to be back in St. George's 5th District Court for a preliminary hearing next week. The courts took control of the UEP Trust, which Shields said controls about 95 percent of the land in Hildale and Colorado City. It was recently reformed by a judge in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court. Shields told the POST Council that special fiduciary Bruce Wisan had no cooperation from Hildale police in investigating theft of property. Officers have refused to answer deposition questions about the FLDS Church and are believed to be acting under another authority. "We basically have no trust in the police officers. They have other loyalties," Shields said. Those claims angered several members of the POST Council, which handles officer certification and discipline. Read more | |
| Polygamist cops' loyalty to Warren Jeffs may cost them their badges | |
|
By Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 Originally published December 9, 2006 | |
| Eventually, the small police agency shared by the polygamist communities of Hildale and Colorado City may have to be closed down. Why? Because it appears that the Marshal and his Deputies may be more loyal to Warren Jeffs than they are to the law or the constitution. The town Marshal is under multiple federal and state investigations. At least the federal investigation is criminal -- looking into whether the Deputy Marshals may have violated the civil rights of the residents of the community. But the State investigations deal directly with certification. The Peace Office Training and Standards - POST - boards of both Arizona and Utah are looking at whether the badges for all or some of the cops in Hildale and Colorado City should be taken away. Arizona is looking specifically at two people: Fred Barlow, the Marshal or head of the force, and Deputy Marshal Preston Barlow. Read more | |
| Town marshal pledges his allegiance to Jeffs | |
| Letter says towns' officers are loyal to 'Uncle Warren' | |
|
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Saturday, December 9, 2006 | |
| Hildale/Colorado City Town Marshal Fred Barlow has pledged his allegiance to Fundamentalist LDS Ch | |