Willie Jessop, Dan Johnson and Merlin Jessop want 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg to require Bruce R. Wisan to present proposed sales in court before disposing of land held in the United Effort Plan Trust.
Wisan says the move is a "collateral attack" on the court and its prior rulings to reform the trust and his authority to manage it.
Lindberg on Monday asked the attorneys to submit additional filings before she rules in September.
Jeff Shields, who represents Wisan, agreed to hold off on any property transactions until then.
The three men, members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, want Lindberg to impose a 90-day stay on all property sales, time enough for court hearings at which objections could be raised.
Wisan said in an Aug. 14 court hearing that he had a buyer who was willing to pay around $3 million for one parcel but refused to disclose details of the transaction.
Rod Parker, who represents the three FLDS men, said in court filings the sale involves a large tract of farmland known as Berry Knoll and that the sale price could be as much as $9 million.
The three men say they have "stewardship from priesthood leadership" to use the land to graze cattle and sheep, grow produce and operate a feed lot. A portion of that produce is distributed through a storehouse to FLDS members; the rest is sold commercially, the filing states.
Selling the land would "pose an immediate and fundamental threat to the religion's communal lifestyle and beliefs of the community because they threaten its self-sufficiency, and thus [is] contrary to law, constitutional rights, and the best interests of the people who live on Trust property and rely on it for their sustenance," their motion states.
Parker said after the hearing that without court oversight, there is no supervision of the fiduciary.
"It is a question of accountability," he said.
The trust holds virtually all property in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., the traditional home base of the sect. Polygamists settled the area in the 1930s and consider land donated to the trust to be consecrated for religious purposes.
Wisan wants to privatize the trust by selling its holdings - a course of action the men believe will "harm the community and its members in a way which cannot be compensated."
But Shields asked Lindberg to not "micro-manage" the trust, arguing the reformed trust gives Wisan authority act independently in managing its assets.
"We don't want the standard of having to get court approval for sales," he said.
The trust is currently "cash poor," according to Shields. Neither his firm nor Wisan have been paid in over a year and are owed a total of $1.25 million. Other bills remain unpaid, including almost $200,000 due the engineering firm that has worked on subdividing the twin towns.
In court documents filed Monday, Wisan is seeking to have Parker disqualified because of his past work on behalf of the UEP Trust.
Wisan also says the men's filing exemplifies the FLDS' refusal to acknowledge the trust has been reformed to eliminate its original religious purpose or that the sect now has no say over how its managed.
He also said that the men are using the Berry Knoll property without his knowledge or permission and "shamelessly admit that their use of the property was at the direction of the FLDS priesthood leadership," which contradicts the court's previous orders.
Johnson and Jessop were served with subpoenas from Wisan's attorneys after they arrived at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City.
Wisan said his effort to cloak details of the property transaction were based on "legitimate business concerns - not any practice of secrecy in connection with managing the trust," Wisan states.
The fiduciary also said the men waived their right to protest the action by doing "nothing with respect to such opportunities for over three years" while continuing to use trust property in an unauthorized manner.
"Accordingly, it is now too late for the movants to seek relief as to the management of the trust," he claims.
Representatives of the Utah and Arizona attorneys general offices questioned whether the FLDS members have standing to protest sales and their motives for doing so.
