COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Lenore Holm can leave home now — if she wants to.
"I am so happy," Holm said Friday, a day after learning an Arizona judge would not allow the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to evict her from her home of 23 years.
"This makes it now so if we want to go anywhere with the kids for a few days we can," said Holm, who still has nine of her 14 children living at home. "They've (FLDS) been threatening to move us out, and I was afraid they would if we went anywhere."
The FLDS Church issued the family an eviction notice two years ago, but the Holms refused to leave, prompting the church to file a lawsuit to force them out.
Judge James Chavez with the Superior Court of Mohave County in Kingman, Ariz., heard the case against the Holms last week. The judge determined the FLDS Church could not evict the Holms without fair compensation for investments Holm put into the residence.
FLDS attorney Rod Parker said Friday he is disappointed in the outcome.
"We're still looking at appealing the decision," he said. "Ultimately we will probably appeal it, but before that happens we may ask the judge for some clarifications."
Parker said it isn't clear what the judge meant when he said the FLDS Church must compensate the Holms.
"Milton (Holm) hasn't paid property taxes for years," said Parker. "Compensation would not be based on an appraisal of the home and its improvements."
Milton Holm, a former member of the FLDS Church, began building his house in the late 1970s on land owned by the church under a communal doctrine called the United Effort Plan.
Holm signed a document with church leaders at that time acknowledging he was essentially a tenant at will of the church, Parker said, just like everybody else who builds on UEP land.
"Everybody understands going in that this is a religious lifestyle," said Parker. "This is a religious group. I think the judge had a hard time believing the Holms agreed to place themselves in the position they placed themselves in."
Most homes in the Colorado City and Hildale, Utah, area are constructed on land owned by the UEP. Faithful followers of the FLDS Church practice polygamy and often add on to their homes to accommodate new wives and children. Few homes are finished, and most of the streets are lined with gravel. Children attend private, parochial schools and most women are married by the time they are in their early 20s.
Lenore Holm said the FLDS Church wanted her 16-year-old daughter to marry an already-married man more than twice her age. When she balked and refused to give her consent, an eviction notice was issued to them, she said, and the couple left the church.
"This has been like a roller-coaster ride. I finally decided the only way for me to get through it was to turn it over to God," she said. "This (decision) gives me more knowledge that God does answer prayers." Even if she was forced to leave her home, Lenore Holm said it would be nearly impossible to leave Colorado City and the beautiful red rock mountains that cradle the town.
"I love it here," said Lenore, whose daughter eventually married the man chosen for her once she turned 18. "Someone asked me if I was going to keep fighting polygamy. I'm going to fight against underage marriages, but I'm not going to fight polygamy. That's pointless."
E-MAIL: nperkins@infowest.com