Salt Lake City, USA - Utah Supreme Court Justice Ronald Nehring has granted a request by the FLDS Church for emergency relief in the sale of a parcel of land known as Berry Knoll Farm and a herd of cows.
The FLDS Church on Monday filed a petition with the Utah Supreme Court asking it to stay all proceedings and orders by the lower court in the long-running case seeking to reform the Untied Effort Plan Trust. The Trust holds communal property in Hilldale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona that belonged to FLDS members. The move came after 3rd District Court Judge Denise Lindberg sealed all filings relating to the future of the Trust and rejected the Church's efforts to intervene in the case. The FLDS, known for its belief in polygamy, says that the secular management of the trust under court jurisdiction makes it impossible for members to organize their lives in a communal "Holy United Order" as required by their religious teachings.
The United Effort Plan Trust, which holds most of the FLDS property located in Hilldale, Utah; Colorado City, Arizona.; and Bountiful, British Columbia, is currently supervised by the 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City. The trust valued at more than $100 million was seized by the court in 2005 amid claims that it was being mismanaged by FLDS leader Warren Jeffs.