After passing the Utah State Bar examination, Turley practiced law briefly before being hired by the LDS Church in January 1986. He was appointed assistant managing director of the Historical Department, to replace the retiring Earl Olson.[1][6]
At this time, the department was already heavily involved in the investigation of Mark Hofmann, the historical documents forger who attempted to hide his fraud by murder during the previous October.[1] Turley's legal training helped the department which had examined and acquired several Hoffman forgeries (though some argued it was to hide their controversy).[6]
Watching the case unfold in the press and in books, Turley felt misconceptions lingered from the media frenzy. To tell the story from the perspectives of the murder victims and the LDS Church (which Turley believed had been misrepresented) he published Victims: The LDS Church and the Mark Hofmann Case in 1992 through the University of Illinois Press. Though he wrote the book without church direction, his trusted position granted him church leaders' support and access to interviews, diaries, journals, memoranda, and other records.[1]
Turley was appointed managing director of the Historical Department in 1989,[7] and in 1996 he also became managing director of the Family History Department. While over the family history department Turley oversaw the launching of familysearch.org.
In 2000, the Family History and Church History departments merged into the Family and Church History Department, over which Turley remained as managing director.[8]
In 2002, BYU Press published Selected Collections From the Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which Turley edited. On 74 DVDs, this released numerous important and rare early documents of the church, which some scholars and historians called "the most important event in modern Mormon publishing,"[11] and "an achievement of such significance that no praise, no matter how effusive, seems sufficiently laudatory."[12]
On March 12, 2008, the Family and Church History Department announced it was becoming two departments again: the Family History Department and the Church History Department.[13] In addition, Turley became the Assistant Church Historian,[14] an ecclesiastical position that was unfilled for over 25 years. Steven L. Olsen, the department's associate managing director, took Turley's old position of managing director.[15]
For his contributions to public history while overseeing the church's archives, records, museums, and historic sites, Turley was awarded the 2013 Herbert Feis Award from the American Historical Association.[16][17]
In April 2016, the church announced that Turley would move from the Church History Department and become the successor to Michael Otterson as the managing director of the church's public affairs department.[18] The two worked closely together through a transition period until Otterson's departure in August, to accept an assignment as a temple president.[19][20][21] Among other events and activities in this new role, Turley traveled to the Philippines in December 2017 where he gave three devotionals on Church History.[22]
In 1992, Turley commented on how Mormon history can affect the faith of LDS Church members:
Some people may wish to base their faith on historical evidence. While historical information can be useful, interesting and can provide insights to individuals, I don't think that it's the sure foundation of faith. The sure foundation of faith is spiritual and not physical. ... [T]he more an individual learns about the history of the Church, the greater that individual's understanding will be of the overall picture. Thus, every piece of evidence will be viewed against the total picture. Otherwise, people who do not have much knowledge of Church history may find themselves being tossed to and fro by tidbits from the past.[1]
Cannon, George Q. (1999). Cannon, Adrian W.; Turley, Richard E. Jr; Landon, Michael (eds.). The Journals of George Q. Cannon: To California in '49. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book. ISBN1-57345-465-6.
Smith, Joseph Jr (2011). Lorimer, Riley M.; Turley, Richard E. Jr; Jensen, Robin Scott (eds.). Published Revelations. The Joseph Smith Papers: Revelations and Translations. Vol. 2. Salt Lake City, Utah: Church Historian's Press. ISBN9781606419427..
Turley, Richard E. Jr; Chapman, Brittany A., eds. (2011). Women of Faith in the Latter Days, Volume One: 1775-1820. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book. ISBN9781609089863.
——; ——, eds. (2012). Women of Faith in the Latter Days, Volume Two: 1821-1845. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book. ISBN9781609071738.
——; ——, eds. (2014). Women of Faith in the Latter Days, Volume Three: 1846-1870. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book. ISBN9781609075880.
Cannon, George Q. (2014). Cannon, Adrian W.; Turley, Richard E. Jr; Orton, Chad M. (eds.). The Journals of George Q. Cannon: Hawaiian Mission, 1850-1854. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book. ISBN9781609078843.
Turley, Theodore (1982). Turley, Richard E. Jr (ed.). Theodore Turley: Mission Journal, 1839-1840 (Thesis). Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University.
Turley, Ida Elizabeth Eyring (1997). Turley, Richard E. Jr (ed.). The Diary of Ida Elizabeth Eyring Turley: 1874-1952. Salt Lake City: s.n.
Turley, Richard E. Jr, ed. (2002). Selected Collections from the Archives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (electronic resource, 2 volumes). Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press.
Turley, Richard E. Jr (2006). Why Can't I Forget My Sins? (sound recording). Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book. ISBN1-59038-553-5.
