Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Three members of a polygamous church have asked a judge to stop a court-appointed accountant from selling off land held in a communal trust.
Attorneys for Willie Jessop, Dan Johnson and Merlin Jessop want the court to require a judge's approval before Bruce Wisan can sell land held in the United Effort Plan trust.
Wisan, the trust overseer, wants to sell the property known as Berry Knoll, about 3 miles south of the Utah state line, to pay bills he's incurred managing the trust. He says estimates its value at $9 million.
Since the 1940s, the trust has been the charitable arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, holding all the land and homes in Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz. The Utah courts seized the trust in 2005 after allegations that church leaders had mismanaged its funds.
Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
