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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday heard an appeal on behalf of two polygamous church bishops who want legal standing in a long-running court battle for control of a communal land trust.
Lyle Jeffs and James Oler, of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, contend that a state judge's ruling keeping them out of the case prevents them from fulfilling their ecclesiastical duties.
The men want to intervene in the 3rd District Court dispute over the United Effort Plan Trust. The trust holds most of the land and homes in a church enclave in Bountiful, British Columbia, as well as in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., the twin towns where most church members live.
It was formed in the 1940s to hold the collective assets of church members, including homes, undeveloped property, food and other resources.
Three other church members are tied to the appeal and also want standing on behalf of themselves and other FLDS, who are trust beneficiaries.
It's not clear when the court might issue a ruling.
Jeffs, the brother of jailed FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, is the bishop for the twin border towns and Oler heads the faith's Bountiful branch. As bishops, the two men are expected to provide for the spiritual and physical needs of church members.
The Utah courts took control of the trust in 2005 amid allegations of mismanagement. A state judge appointed a Salt Lake City accountant to manage the trust that year, and has since approved reforms to convert the trust into a secular entity and expand the beneficiary class to include former FLDS members.
Earlier this year, the Utah Supreme Court upheld the changes to the trust, saying the FLDS, who didn't challenge the changes until 2008, had waited too long to object.
Two weeks ago, the state judge also granted limited status in the case to the Corporation of the President, the legal entity that forms the church.
On Tuesday, justices on the state's high court asked whether that satisfied concerns that the church was not being represented in trust administration matters, and suggested that Jeffs, Oler and others might not need standing.
"Shouldn't we just dismiss the appeal?" the court's newest justice, Thomas Lee, asked.
FLDS attorney Steven Clark said that while the church corporation and the bishops do share some of the same perspectives, only the bishops are charged with tending to the temporal needs of FLDS members -- the same thing the trust was designed to do.
The scope of the state judge's limits on the corporation's standing are also unclear, Clark said.
Assistant Utah Attorney General Tim Bodily said granting legal standing to the bishops could open the door to a flood of requests from other trust beneficiaries who might seek individual standing in the case.
As currently drafted, trust beneficiaries include church members and any former members who can prove a legitimate interest in the trust by proving they contributed to it before leaving the faith.
Bodily said that while the reform trust removes religion as a litmus test for benefiting from its assets, it doesn't preclude religious interests from being expressed to the state judge, who must approve any major administrative decisions related to the trust, such as the sale of property.
"We're in a position to hear those concerns," Bodily said.
The FLDS considers state intervention in the trust as a violation of their religious rights and part of a larger effort to dismantle their way of life.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
