County attorney's office helps serve Hildale subpoenas
 
By Patrice St. Germain
patrices@thespectrum.com
 
ST. GEORGE - Looking to serve subpoenas on several people living in Hildale, the Arizona Attorney General's Office enlisted the help of the Washington County Attorney's Office.

None of those people of interest appeared in 5th District Court before Judge James Shumate on Friday afternoon, but all had hired attorneys, said Deputy Attorney Jerry Jaeger.

"Basically, the Arizona Attorney General's Office was looking to serve subpoenas on individuals and businesses which had dealings with the Colorado City School; however, since the individuals lived in Hildale, we were asked to help," Jaeger said.

The court action was brief as three attorneys represented their clients.

Attorney Heath Snow, who is representing several individuals, declined to comment after the court hearing.

Shumate commented for the record that one of the individuals, Willie Jessop, owner of R & W Excavating, did the excavation work for his home.

"I don't believe this is a conflict, but I want it on the record," Shumate said.

County Attorney Brock Belnap said although his office doesn't serve out-of-state subpoenas very often, it does happen.

"We help other law enforcement agencies as a cooperative effort," Belnap said.

Those served with subpoenas via their attorneys to secure an out-of-state witness include Drue C. Cooke, Thomas A. Holm, Brian Jessop, Jonathan Jessop, Willie Jessop and Janet White.

Two people, Lawrence Stubbs and Wayne Jessop, were served with two subpoenas.

All are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who predominately live in the twin cities of Hildale and Colorado City.

One of the tenets of the church is the practice of polygamy.

The self-proclaimed prophet of the church, Warren Jeffs, is a fugitive from justice and is on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.

In May 2005, the Arizona Attorney General's Office served a criminal search warrant on the Colorado City Unified School District #14.

During the search, agents for the office took boxes of financial records, other documents and computer equipment.

The attorney general's office also prepared a petition to present to the state Board of Education to put the school district into receivership based on a law passed by the Arizona State Legislature, which took effect Aug. 12, 2005.

Since that time, the school has been placed into receivership and the receiver is dealing with issues to make sure the district is solvent, said Arizona Attorney General's Office press secretary Andrea Esquer.

As for the attorney general's office, the case against the school district is still an ongoing investigation.
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published July 8, 2006
 
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