Kendall County Sheriff’s Office resuming evictions as pandemic suspension lifts

The Kendall County Sheriff’s Office is starting to resume eviction enforcement as a state moratorium is set to end, Sheriff Dwight Baird has confirmed, though he hopes landlords and renters can work out agreements to ease the burden on law enforcement and courts.

Baird reported that his office performed two evictions between December and May in a six month report presented to the Kendall County Board on Tuesday, July 20, in Yorkville.

Gov. JB Pritzker banned evictions at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a moratorium that is slowly being phased out and is set to end in August.

Some evictions have been allowed if a tenant poses a health or safety concern, but Baird said his office is already doing “catch up” on a backlog of eviction filings.

“The filing has gone up and we’ve been doing them again,” Baird said Tuesday. “But it’s going to take time to work through the courts in order to get everything done.”

With landlords eager to evict tenants behind on rent, Baird said landlords have been constantly calling the Sheriff’s Office throughout the pandemic.

A lot of the landlords have tried to work it out with the tenants, so we’re hoping that that will alleviate some of the demand on that process,” Baird said. “So time will tell.”