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Policing the FLDS towns of Colorado City and Hildale on the Utah/Arizona border could become with a new $420,000 for taxpayers.
Attorney General Tom Horne’s funding for the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office to patrol the area is running dry, after a bill that attempts to deal with the situation in Colorado City was all but killed in the state Legislature.
See also:
–Tom Horne’s Cash for Colorado City Policing Set to Run Out
–Colorado City, FLDS Haven, Reportedly Covered With Security Cameras, 1984 Style
–Michelle Ugenti’s Anti-Colorado City Bill Gets No Love from State Senate
–Doris Goodale Won’t Explain Her Defense of Colorado City’s Police Force
–Colorado City Sued by Justice Department; Warren Jeffs Still Running the Joint
The estimate for payment to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office is the same as this year’s, $420,000, but Horne came up with that funding last time around from Federal Asset Sharing, federal cash that had been seized from drug dealers and whatnot.
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So, Horne’s reportedly going to ask the Legislature to budget this in, since the Leg’ already screwed the pooch on Colorado City this session.
See, Colorado City previously was patrolled only by the Marshal’s Office, which is believed to be loyal to self-proclaimed prophet and convicted child rapist Warren Jeffs instead of the law, at least, according to Horne and a federal lawsuit from the the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, among others.
Republican Representative Michelle Ugenti proposed a bill this year — similar to legislation proposed last session — calling for local police departments to be dissolved if half of its police officers had their licenses taken away over the course of eight years. That happens to fit the description of the Marshal’s Office (legislators have also cited the PD in Quartzsite), which would alleviate the need for the Sheriff’s Office, presumably.
So, even though it seems like lawmakers could have avoided this, should the taxpayers be on the hook to keep an eye on the public (and “marshals”) in Colorado City?
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