Judge delays naming trustees for polygamist FLDS church

SALT LAKE CITY — A judge on Thursday ordered people who want to be trustees for the polygamist church on the Utah-Arizona border to give the court a detailed look at their qualifications and an explanation of their intentions.

Judge Denise Lindberg was scheduled to name trustees Thursday for the United Effort Plan Trust, which holds the real estate assets of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

But the Utah attorney general’s office and a court-appointed independent auditor evaluating the trust asked the court to delay, seeking more information about nominees after objections were filed to most names.

Lindberg agreed, saying she was not yet prepared to appoint anyone.

“I don’t have all the information I want to have,” Lindberg said, noting that decisions made about the multimillion dollar trust will affect numerous lives.

Lindberg set a hearing date of Oct. 25 for her decision and gave the 20-plus nominees until Aug. 24 to supply their information to the court.

The Utah attorney general sought the removal, saying the trustees, including fugitive church leader Warren Jeffs, had liquidated some trust assets and left others vulnerable by failing to defend lawsuits filed against Jeffs.

An independent auditor was temporarily placed in charge of the trust.

In June, the court permanently removed Jeffs and other church leaders from management of the trust.

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