Evictions Begin in Utah Polygamous Community

SALT LAKE CITY (AP/Staff) � Officials in southern Utah are serving evictions on the first of possibly dozens of homes in Warren Jeffs� polygamous sect. Jeffs is serving a life sentence in a prison near Palestine, Texas, for sexually assaulting underage girls he considered brides. Attorney Jeffrey Shields says a county constable was doing seven evictions Friday in Hildale, Utah, on the Arizona border. Shields is working with officials appointed by a Utah judge to oversee the trust the homes belong to. Evictions of seven other homes are expected within weeks. Next year, dozens more homes could face the same fate.

The evictions were ordered this summer by Utah state Judge Denise Lindberg, who said she was fed up with a free-rider problem in the community. The residents are among families on the Utah-Arizona border who for years have failed to pay occupancy fees of $100 a month, depriving the state-run trust of more than $4 million.