Evictions of FLDS church families forcing polygamist to spread around Utah

CBS News KUTV-2, Uah/November 8, 2017

By D.J. Bolerjack

Beaver, Utah — Following years of evictions within Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona , once strongholds of the FLDS church, hundreds of families are moving into communities around Utah.

Juab, Sanpete, Iron, Kane and Beaver counties are just a few of the communities the FLDS families are now calling home.

In order to get a better idea of how residents in these communities are handling this influx of people, and the concerns law enforcement have, 2News met with Beaver County Sheriff Cameron Noel, and took a tour of the city to see where these families are living.

"I want to make sure we keep an open line of communication with them," Noel said as he drove around the city of Beaver. "They have different skills that they've brought to our community."

Some of those skills, like jobs within agriculture and construction, are scaring residents and local business owners.

"I've heard that some of them are going to open up businesses in the community that may hurt some of the other local businesses. But it's competition," Noel said.

He said that some construction companies are worried because the men and women working in construction are charging less for their work.

"That's brought in a little bit of concern, I guess you call it lowballing," Noel said, "That's not against the law but it has had caused some some feelings with some of the people in that line of work."

The new members of the Beaver community have been living in town for a year now and Noel said he accepts their differences and hopes to help them if they need it.

"They are human beings, they are still citizens of this community and of the state. So like I said, I have not gotten any kind of information at all that has pointed them into unlawful activity."

Commonly called the FLDS church, it's official name is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

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