Since the FBI added Warren Jeffs to the national "10 Most Wanted" list this month, Colorado City and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) have been much in the news.

I traveled back to Colorado City last week to meet with law enforcement, school officials and the trustee for the United Effort Plan Trust, which controls nearly all of the town's real estate.  It was an encouraging trip.  While much remains to be done in the polygamous community straddling the Arizona-Utah border, positive progress has been made in the past three years.

For the most part, before 2003, Arizona and Utah ignored Colorado City for more than a half-century.  That's no longer true.  Important partnerships have been developed with local law enforcement in Arizona and Utah, the Utah Attorney General, the FBI and several state agencies to undertake both civil and criminal investigations and provide a safety net for victims of child abuse and domestic violence.

Recent progress includes:

• Indictments in Mohave County against Jeffs, the tyrannical leader of the FLDS, and eight of his followers on charges of sexual abuse of a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual abuse
• A $10,000 reward from Arizona and Utah for information leading to Jeffs' arrest, the first such reward offered in Arizona since territorial days.  The FBI has now raised the reward by $100,000.
• Passage of the Arizona School Receivership Law, motivated by the financial failure of the Colorado City School District.  I moved the Arizona Board of Education to place the district into receivership on the first day the new law took effect.  The superintendent and board have been removed and an independent receiver appointed.
• Seizure of Colorado City School District records and files.  My office executed search warrants last summer and took custody of materials that are being reviewed in our ongoing criminal investigation.
• Taking the United Effort Plan Trust out of the control of Warren Jeffs.  Working with the Utah Attorney General, we petitioned the Utah probate court to replace Jeffs and his associates, who were using Trust assets to reinforce their power over followers, with a special fiduciary who has been working to identify and protect the Trust's assets.  
• Establishing a presence in Colorado City for law enforcement and government agencies with the opening of a county-state office, hiring a victim advocate and setting up the toll-free "Safe Talk Helpline" for victims of violence or abuse in the Colorado City area.
• Making Colorado City law enforcement uphold the law instead of following orders from Warren Jeffs.  Two Colorado City police officers have been decertified and others are under investigation.  I have asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate civil rights violations by the Colorado City police, as well.

These are positive steps, but we have a long way to go.  Though now a fugitive with a large price on his head, Jeffs still exercises tight control over the community.  Women and children are still afraid to testify against their abusers.  Young men are probably still being forced to leave town on orders from Jeffs.  A few FLDS members have been able to escape and more are calling the Helpline.  The numbers calling are still small, but a window to the outside world and help has definitely been opened. 

For too long, Jeffs and his predecessors have ignored and violated the law.  They demand absolute obedience from their followers.  What has taken a century to build will not change overnight.  Step by step, change has come in many areas.  We are enforcing the law in Colorado City and coming to the aid of victims.  The walls of tyranny are crumbling.

Terry Goddard