Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne wants a federal court to dissolve the police department that serves the twin polygamous communities of Colorado City, Ariz. and Hilldale, Utah.
A federal court ruled earlier this year that two people who were not members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints in the towns had been the victims of housing discrimination, caused by public officials.
After the trial, Horne says the police chief Helman Barlow admitted lying under oath about what took place, and more.
“There's testimony from this guy who turned, who said he perjured himself, that the police actively protect members of the church and seek to harm non-members of the church," Horne said.
Based on that, Horne is asking a federal judge to dissolve the police department and turn law enforcement over to the county sheriffs in each state.
Attorneys for the towns say they’ll fight the effort believing there is no basis for it.
But Horne compares what he wants federal judges to do to what they did when they ordered the busing of students to deal with racial segregation in the public schools.