In the aftermath of the polygamist raid last month at a Texas compound, the state of Utah continues to share the spotlight.

 

A polygamy summit in St. George, Utah this week provided a glimpse of how law enforcement authorities in both Utah and Arizona will likely respond to polygamy in their states.

 

While Texas decided to conduct a massive raid – removing 462 children from a compound in Eldorado, some of whom are thought to be teenage brides – it’s becoming clearer that Utah has no plans of taking similar actions in the future.

 

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff responded Thursday to the question of whether Utah or Arizona would conduct a Texas-style raid, and his answer couldn’t have been any more direct.

 

“We do not plan a raid to end polygamy,” Shurtleff said. “I know you’re worried about that. We’re not going to do it. I don’t care how many talking heads on cable television shows tell (Arizona Attorney General) Terry (Goddard) and I that we need to cowboy up and be like Texas. We don’t believe that’s the answer.”

 

Instead, the attorneys general explained their approach toward polygamists will center on cultivating more of a trusting relationship “so that girls wanting to complain of abuse or escape a sect could feel safe in speaking out,” writes Kirk Johnson in The New York Times.

 

Texas authorities contend that there is evidence that FLDS men were having sex with underage girls.

 

Shurtleff has pointed to the successful prosecution last year of Warren Jeffs, the leader of the FLDS, on the charge of rape as an accomplice, for marrying a 14-year-old girl to her 19-year-old cousin.

 

But criticism of how Utah and Arizona authorities have handled polygamy has reached the highest rungs of the federal government, with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently blasting the two states’ approach, saying he was “embarrassed” for them.

 

It’s true that Reid has since expressed a desire to Shurtleff to “kiss and make up,” but it appears Reid, who has been pushing for federal involvement in tackling polygamy-related crimes in the states, will get his way, and Shurtleff now seems more willing to work with the feds.

 

In a letter to the attorneys general Wednesday, Reid announced that a senior Justice Department official will be working with the states to best determine how the federal government can assist in combating crimes associated with polygamy.