Forum/Discussions

The Illinois House of Representatives may be voting very soon on House Bill 5395, sponsored by Representative Monique Davis.  The legislation would take responsibility away from the Cook County Sheriff for conducting residential evictions in ways that would be harmful for those being evicted and raise liability issues for landlords and local governments.

As amended, HB 5395 would allow any on-duty peace officer, or off-duty officer working for a private company, to carry out residential evictions in Cook County. For wise reasons it has been longstanding law in Illinois that the sheriff is the county official charged with carrying out orders from the county's circuit court. For example, if this bill becomes law, tenants who have their eviction order modified will have no idea which agency or corporation to notify to stop eviction. Law enforcement officers may be misled by landlords into enforcing eviction judgments that have been overturned. If unlawful evictions ensue, both landlords and local governments would be exposed to legal action. Moreover, if lawful orders are not enforced, it will be unclear which officer or agency must answer to the court.

Evictions are sensitive, emotionally charged events that often mean a family loses its home. The Sheriff's Department employs specially trained deputies whose sole assignment is to carry out evictions. The Department has a social worker on staff to provide a specialized response when the most vulnerable are in jeopardy of becoming homeless, such as a senior citizen.

The bottom line is that the responsibility to manage and enforce court orders best lies with the sheriff.  In addition to the benefits of having one law enforcement agency responsible for managing both orders to evict and subsequent orders to modify, stay or vacate them, to give any peace officer the authority to evict will lead to unlawful evictions and unintended consequences for tenants, landlords and municipalities.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart opposes HB 5395 and Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown has written a column about why he opposes it, too.

Please click on this link to contact your State Representative and let them know you oppose HB 5395.