Update: In a court filing, the attorney for Colorado City insists Mayor Joseph Allred was not dodging subpoena service. The attorney said he would accept the subpoena for the mayor.
A federal judge is being asked to allow the U.S. Justice Department to use alternative methods to serve a testimony subpoena on Colorado City’s mayor.
In a motion filed in federal court in Phoenix, the U.S. Justice Department claims it has tried repeatedly to find Mayor Joseph Allred to serve him with the subpoena, but he can’t be located.
“Mayor Allred, however, has avoided service and none of the United States’ attempts to serve him have been successful. The United States also requested the assistance of Colorado City’s counsel in arranging for personal service of a subpoena on Mayor Allred,” lawyers wrote. “That assistance was not forthcoming. As a result, the United States has been unable to serve Mayor Allred.”
The mayor could not be found at Colorado City Town Hall, at council meetings or at his home, the Justice Department claims. It asks that Allred could be served with the trial subpoena by posting it on the doors of the Town Hall. In an order on Tuesday, the judge gave Colorado City’s attorney a day to respond to the demand.
Allred will be a witness in the federal government’s upcoming lawsuit against the towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. The lawsuit accuses the town governments of acting as agents of the FLDS Church and its leader, imprisoned polygamist Warren Jeffs, by denying services to those who are not members of the church.
The towns have repeatedly denied the allegations. The trial is slated to start in January.
