State moves to seize polygamists' ranch

The Yearning for Zion polygamist ranch was built by sect leader Warren Jeffs and his followers. The Yearning for Zion polygamist ranch was built by sect leader Warren Jeffs and his followers. Photo: Donna Mcwilliam, STF Photo: Donna Mcwilliam, STF Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close State moves to seize polygamists' ranch 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

The Texas Attorney General's office moved Wednesday to seize the nearly 1,700-acre Yearning For Zion ranch where countless underage girls were involved in marriages to adult followers of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints.

In documents filed to the court in Schleichter County, the state claims the ranch is contraband because it was used in the commission of several crimes including money laundering and child sex.

The attorney general's action is the first step in what could be a lengthy court battle for ownership of the ranch, bought in 2003 for $700,000, now worth more than $20 million.

Jerry Strickland, spokesman for Attorney General Greg Abbott, said a notice of intention to take the property was left at the gate of the sprawling ranch in Eldorado, 384 miles northwest of Houston.

The property is owned by a church trust, the United Order of Texas. Property owners have 30 days to respond to the state's action.

Notice sent to Jeffs

A copy of the state's documents were sent to 56-year-old FLDS spiritual leader Warren Jeffs, convicted and sentenced to a life sentence more than a year ago on child sex abuse charges.

"He has gotten it," said John Hurt, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the state's prison system.

In 2008, a bogus tip sent Texas lawmen and social workers to the West Texas ranch bought by the sect's trust.

By the time the tip was found to be a hoax, CPS had more than 438 children in temporary foster care. Boxes of documents - including journals and writings of Jeffs and some of the underage "spiritual wives" he and his followers had married - produced enough evidence to convict Jeffs and nine other followers of child sex charges.

An 11th man was convicted of bigamy.

Strickland said he did not know if anyone was living at the ranch. At one time, as many as 700 people called it home.

Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran told the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday that there were definitely fewer people living on the ranch compared to 2008.

"There are residents out there," Doran said. "It's definitely a small group out there. There is a lot less activity."

'Spiritual wives'

According to the seizure warrant filed Wednesday, anyone living at the ranch could continue to do so until the court settles the state of Texas' claim.

The Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints is a breakaway sect from the Mormon church. FLDS believers practice polygamy and brides as young as 11 have been made "spiritual wives" of adult men of the church.

Children were returned

At the time, CPS reasoned that all children were potential victims, even the boys because they were being groomed to be child abusers.

The Texas Supreme Court disagreed with the removal of the children, saying the state could have taken lesser action to protect the children.

Eventually, all of the sect's children were returned to their parents and state prosecutors indicted the 11 men.

Jeffs remains in protective custody at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Louis C. Powledge Unit in Palestine.

"It's not because he did something, it's just for his own safety," explained Hurt, the prison system's spokesman. "He's a high-profile character that is well-known. A lot of times we have well-known people that other offenders would like to harass."

Of the 152,000 Texas inmates, Jeffs is one of the more popular ones. His mom and brothers visit him nearly every week. He receives so much mail that he never reads it all.

"He says he doesn't want more than so many pieces of a day," Hurt said. "He'll read 10-to-15 pieces a day and that's all."

terri.langford@chron.com