Polygamy czar

The Investigator of Crimes within Closed Societies for the Utah Attorney General's Office, informally known as the Polygamy czar, is a plausibly defunct^{[ citation needed ]} position responsible for investigating crimes associated with Fundamentalist Mormon communities that practice plural marriage, including tax evasion, welfare fraud, child abuse, sex abuse and domestic violence. Established by the Utah State Legislature in 2000, the office has contributed to the prosecutions of polygamists Rodney Holm and Tom Green on child rape and bigamy charges. ^{[1] [2]}

As of July 2025, the office has not been filled since Jim Hill's resignation. Officials of the Attorney General's office reiterated a policy of not "pursu[ing] cases of bigamy between consenting adults" as early as 2009. ^[3] In 2017, Parker Douglas, the Utah federal solicitor and assistant counsel to the Attorney General, expressed that the Attorney General was diverting no special resources to pursuing crimes committed by polygamists. ^[4]

Officeholders

• Ron Barton (2000–2004) ^[2]
• Jim Hill (2004–2006) ^[5]

In fiction

A fictionalized polygamy czar was introduced in the HBO series Big Love in the S1E5 episode "Affair."

References

1. O'Driscoll, Patrick (June 19, 2001). "Polygamist goes on trial in Utah". USA Today . Archived from the original on 2014-10-22.
2. "Ron Barton Goes From Polygamy Czar to Tree Czar". 2004.
3. Dobner, Jennifer (2010-09-29), 'Sister Wives' family investigated for bigamy, NBCUniversal Media LLC, archived from the original on 2017-02-11
4. Carlisle, Nate (2017-04-06), Prosecutors say ‘aggravated bigamy’ law unlikely to spur polygamy investigations in Utah, The Salt Lake Tribune{{citation}}: Check |archive-url= value (help)
5. Winslow, Ben (November 2, 2006). "'Polygamy czar' quits to take crime lab helm". Deseret News . Archived from the original on 2014-10-22.