A request by Merril Jessop on the behalf of YFZ Land, LLC, for a permit to drill a new water well was discussed by the board of Plateau Underground Water Conservation and Supply District at their meeting on Wednesday, December 22, 2010. The proposed well is intended to supplement the YFZ Ranch’s one public water supply well.
Since the proposed well would be less than 100 ft. from an existing well, the request also included an exception to the spacing rule that requires 1,320 ft. between permitted wells.
It was noted that there are currently five permitted wells on the 1,691 acre ranch, with four of them being for irrigation.
Jessop signed the permit application, but it was presented to the board by Paul Allred, who is certified to operate the
ranch’s public water treatment plant and wastewater system.
Less than half a day after telling Judge Barbara Walther that he was being represented by Austin attorney Gerry Morris, FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs abruptly informed the court that he needed another attorney. Jeffs said he wanted a lawyer who understood his needs.
Jeffs addressed the court for about ten minutes before Judge Walther appointed San Angelo attorney Fred Brigman to represent him.
Schleicher County’s taxable values grew this year to more than $783 million, according to Chief Appraiser Jani Mitchell. That amount compares to last year’s total of $690 million in taxable value.
Concerns about YFZ water usage aired during public hearing
A public hearing held last Thursday by the Plateau Underground Water Conservation & Supply District’s board of directors, regarding a proposed water well at the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado, drew input from the ranch’s neighbors as well as landowners from near Christoval and a representative of the Upper Colorado River Authority.
Where will Warren Jeffs be tried? That question is set to be debated Monday during a pretrial hearing in District Judge Barbara Walther’s courtroom in San Angelo.
Deputy Attorney General Eric Nichols, the man who has successfully prosecuted seven members of Jeffs’ FLDS church, is wanting the trial moved out of Schleicher County, where many of Jeffs followers reside on the YFZ Ranch.
Nichols explained in a recent court filing that Judge Walther has the authority to move Jeffs’ trial on sexual assault charges to any other county within her 51st judicial district. Those include Schleicher, Tom Green, Irion, Sterling and Coke.
The Texas Third Court of Appeals last week upheld a ruling by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther in which she found that YFZ Ranch defendant Merril Leroy Jessop does not qualify as an indigent under Texas law.
Jessop is serving a 75 year prison sentence for sexual assault of a child. The conviction came after a Tom Green County jury convicted Jessop in relation to his polygamous marriage to an underage girl at the YFZ Ranch in Schleicher County.
Jessop’s attorney argued that Jessop had little or no income for the past several years and that he should qualify as an indigent and therefore be qualified to receive a free court reporter’s record of his trial.
A request by Merril Jessop on the behalf of YFZ Land, LLC, for a permit to drill a new water well was discussed by the board of Plateau Underground Water Conservation and Supply District at their meeting on Wednesday, December 22, 2010. The proposed well is intended to supplement the YFZ Ranch’s one public water supply well.
Less than half a day after telling Judge Barbara Walther that he was being represented by Austin attorney Gerry Morris, FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs abruptly informed the court that he needed another attorney. Jeffs said he wanted a lawyer who understood his needs.
Schleicher County’s taxable values grew this year to more than $783 million, according to Chief Appraiser Jani Mitchell. That amount compares to last year’s total of $690 million in taxable value.
A public hearing held last Thursday by the Plateau Underground Water Conservation & Supply District’s board of directors, regarding a proposed water well at the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado, drew input from the ranch’s neighbors as well as landowners from near Christoval and a representative of the Upper Colorado River Authority.
The Texas Third Court of Appeals last week upheld a ruling by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther in which she found that YFZ Ranch defendant Merril Leroy Jessop does not qualify as an indigent under Texas law.