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Leon Sheriff, Court Clerk Seek Guidance On Evictions As Other Counties Begin Postponements

An overhead shot of a neighborhood filled with houses.
Photo by Breno Assis
/
Unsplash

Some Florida counties are stopping evictions from being carried out as service workers face job uncertainty in the wake of COVID-19 related business closures. In Leon County, Clerk of Court Gwen Marshall and Sheriff Walt McNeil are waiting on guidance from the Chief Judge of the Second Judicial Circuit.

“He is talking with the other judges in our circuit. We have a proposal we’ve sent to him and hopefully before the day is out, I’ll get a response from our chief judge," McNeil says.

It would be up to Second Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Jonathan Sjostrom to decide how counties in his area should proceed. One option being floated would allow landlords to continue to file eviction notices, but the sheriffs office could delay serving tenants.

Legal Services of North Florida and some 20 other aid groups are asking the Florida Supreme Court to stop evictions statewide.

President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. Department of Housing and Development to delay evictions to tenants and homeowners at least to the end of April.

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Lynn Hatter is a Florida A&M University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Lynn has served as reporter/producer for WFSU since 2007 with education and health care issues as her key coverage areas.  She is an award-winning member of the Capital Press Corps and has participated in the NPR Kaiser Health News Reporting Partnership and NPR Education Initiative. 

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