Judge rejects FLDS request over property
 Judge dismisses attempted eviction of Holm family
 
By Dave Hawkins
The Spectrum
 
KINGMAN, Ariz. -- A judge in Kingman has rejected a request by a church-controlled trust to evict a Colorado City man from trust property he has occupied for 36 years.

Mohave County Superior Court Judge James E. Chavez on Thursday dismissed the complaint that the United Effort Plan brought against Milton Holm.

"It's amazing. Colorado City is a part of America. I was starting to wonder," said Lenore Holm, Milton Holm's wife.

Rodney Parker, the plaintiff's attorney, argued during a civil trial last week that the UEP was a tool that the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints used to control much of the property and many of the residents in the predominately polygamous community straddling the northern Arizona border.

Parker said, like many others, the Holms are tenants at will of the trust, that the church could evict them for any reason and was entitled to do so since the residents no longer were members of the church.

Defense attorney George McKay said the Holms were excommunicated, and their eviction was sought only because in 2000 they refused to allow a 16-year-old daughter to marry an older man who was already married. The pair was subsequently married after the daughter turned 18.

Chavez determined the alleged rejected marriage motivation was immaterial to the case.

Chavez instead ruled that Holm enjoyed some right to occupy the property he had inhabited since 1976.

Chavez noted that Holm had invested substantial effort and finances in building his partially unfinished 5,000-square-foot home over the years after a late church president told him to "build like he was going to be there forever."

"To allow the UEP to obtain possession of the residence without fair compensation would be inequitable" Chavez wrote in his ruling. "Therefore, plaintiffs must allow Mr. Holm to retain the residence for his lifetime or pay him just compensation for his investments in the residence."

Parker said he will confer with his clients in an effort to decide whether Chavez's ruling will be appealed.

For now, the Holms and their nine children remain legal residents of the trust-owned property.

Lenore Holm said the outcome of her case may change some perceptions.

"I think it will take away a lot of the fear in Colorado City. Most of the homes here are on Arizona property. Everyone thinks they have to have money to go against the UEP, and our case proves you don't need money," Lenore Holm said.

The Holms' attorney worked on the case for a free through Community Legal Services of Arizona.

Similar eviction cases against the UEP have involved much more time and money. In 1999, about 20 people obtained the rights to live in the homes they built after a 13-year, $1 million legal battle. But in that case a 5th District judge in Cedar City ruled that the FLDS church has property rights.

Reporter Angie Parkinson contributed to this story.
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published May 23, 2003
 
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