Utah Supreme Court hears case against Steed
 
By Patrice St. Germain
patrices@thespectrum.com
Steed

Steed

ST. GEORGE - Justice Court Judge Walter Steed has served the town of Hildale for the past 24 years.

That may all change once the Utah Supreme Court reaches a decision - expected within the next 90 days - on whether Steed should be removed.

By his own admission, Steed has three wives and 32 children. Serving the community since 1981, Steed's duties on the bench largely revolve around traffic violations and misdemeanor charges. Yet Colin Winchester, executive director of the Judicial Conduct Commission, argued during a court hearing on Wednesday that, as a judge, Steed is expected to live his life to higher standards, both personally and professionally, and multiple wives goes against the state bigamy statute.

If the Supreme Court rules that Steed must be removed from the bench, it will be up to the mayor and city council of Hildale to appoint another judge.

Mayor David Zitting said the council has discussed the issue and said several names have come up if Steed must be replaced.

"There is a training process involved, and we would have to find someone willing to dedicate the time and effort," Zitting said.

Zitting said Steed holds court twice a month and has other activities as well. For his work, he is paid about $350 a month.

Two years ago, the Judicial Conduct Commission asked the Utah Attorney General and the Washington County Attorney's Office to look at the case against Steed. Both declined to prosecute.

Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap said his office declined to prosecute based on what was presented at the time and that his office is not prosecuting those engaging in plural marriage.

"Bigamy is against state law but we aren't prosecuting polygamy unless some other crime is involved," Belnap said. "There are literally thousands of cases and we don't have the resources to go out and prosecute polygamy."

Belnap said instead, his office and the Utah Attorney General's Office have elected to focus efforts on crimes of abuse against minors, issues with young men who have been driven from the polygamous society who have become known as the Lost Boys, and sex abuse.

Belnap said focusing on those crimes and not polygamy, has helped facilitate better cooperation with residents living in Hildale than if his office was prosecuting those on polygamy charges.

Another reason is because of the element of fairness. Belnap said adultery is a crime yet his office doesn't prosecute those with mistresses. And the office has to look if the result would change the conduct, which historically, it has not.

Belnap said it is a different story when it involves marriages with underage girls and adults having sex with children, sex abuse or coercive types of relationships.

Steed's legal marriage and two religious marriages have all taken place with consenting adults.

Winchester said the 45-minute hearing went well.

"There were tough questions and hopefully, we gave good answers," Winchester said.
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published November 3, 2005
 
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