Polygamist ranch members plan to sue the state

Members of the West Texas polygamist ranch are planning to sue the state.

A Fundamentalist of Latter Day Saints attorney said they want to sue both state and county officials for the April 3 raid.

The attorney said they have more than enough grounds to sue after the Texas Supreme Court ordered that hundreds of children be returned home to the compound.

The group claimed many of the children now need extensive counseling after their two-month separation from their families. They also claim ranch property was damaged during the raid.

Texas police guarding home of judge at center of polygamist case

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The home of a Texas judge who ordered the removal of hundreds of children from a polygamist ranch in West Texas was under police guard after the sect's Eldorado ranch was raided.

The Deseret News in Salt Lake City reports in a copyright story that the stepped-up security came after Utah and Arizona authorities warned Texas to be on the lookout for polygamist "enforcers."

It was unclear if state District Judge Barbara Walther still was getting extra security at her home Wednesday, nearly two weeks after the Texas Supreme Court said the children should be returned to their parents.

San Angelo police Lt. Curtis Milbourn said officers provided additional security for the judge during the custody hearings in April and May. But he didn't know whether the protection still was in place.

Police guarding Walther's San Angelo home were given files and photos of 16 men and women whom Utah authorities have deemed a threat.

In April, Texas officials removed 440 children from a ranch owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints because of concerns the children were being abused. The Texas Supreme Court ruled that the children should be returned.

The newspaper reported that law enforcement has been on alert since an FLDS-related Web site published Walther's home address and work and home telephone numbers.

An attorney for the FLDS said police have nothing to worry about.
  
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