This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne is putting his money where his mouth is on the Colorado City's Marshal's Office.
During the Legislative session, he pushed for a bill that would have disbanded the department, saying the town marshals were more beholden to Warren Jeffs than the law. Most people who live in the border-straddling community of Colorado City, Ariz. and Hildale, Utah are members of the sect.
That bill narrowly failed, but today Horne announced a $420,000 grant to pay for overtime for Mohave County Sheriff's deputies to patrol the community for 16 hours a day, staggered so "wrongdoers can feel the presence of the sheriff's office 24 hours a day."
In a release, Horne said he intends the federal money, which comes from forfeitures in drug cases, to be a "bridge" to next year, when he hopes to pass the bill disbanding the department. Here's the full AP story on the grant and a background story on the disband attempt.
An attorneys for Colorado City disputed Horne's description of the marshals, but welcomed the additional police presence.
What do you think? Is this a big step for fairness? Does it not go far enough? Is Horne right about the marshals? How might the new patrols be received in the community?