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FLDS Appoints New President As Trust Reform Efforts Drag On

By Howard M. Friedman

AP reported yesterday that the polygamous Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) has filed documents with the Utah Department of Commerce naming Wendell Loy Nielsen as president replacing the jailed Warren Jeffs. The 69-year old Nielson, who has been running the day-to-day affairs of FLDS for some time, was indicted on three counts of bigamy in 2008 following the raid of the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch. The Utah filing makes it clear that Nielsen has legal authority to make business decisions for the church. It is unclear whether he has replaced Jeffs as the church prophet.

Meanwhile, yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune reports on the frustration felt by Utah attorney general Mark Shurtleff over the protracted litigation growing out of the state's efforts to reform the United Effort Plan Trust that holds the $110 million worth of homes and vacant land that had been administered as communal assets of FLDS. Shurtleff is considering recommending a replacement for court-appointed trustee Bruce Wissan who, after five years in the position, is in protracted legal disputes with FLDS. Shurtleff says that they were close to a settlement last summer, explaining: "negotiators came up with a way to get around FLDS' refusal to accept property deeds for land they consider consecrated to God through their church. The discussions, though, unraveled over use of communal properties like parks and where and what type of property would be designated for use by community residents who are not FLDS." (See prior related posting.)

Full post as published by Religion Clause on February 16, 2010 (boomark / email).