Source: WLWT Cincinnati

An area sheriff has ordered deputies to ignore eviction orders when people have nowhere else to live.

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said evictions in winter weather and during an economic recession are heartless and those cases should be sent back to the courts and resolved some other way.

Jones on Tuesday ordered deputies to ensure that people have shelter before they’re forced out of their homes.

“It doesn’t cost much for me to be compassionate, and I’m not going to cause somebody to die because I wasn’t compassionate,” Jones said.

He also sent a letter to Gov. Ted Strickland asking him to issue a state order to stop forced evictions for at least the winter months.

“There has to be some attention drawn to somebody that’s going to be thrown out of their houses that doesn’t have anywhere else to go,” Jones said.

The sheriff could face court action if a bank or landlord challenges his refusal to honor a court-ordered eviction.

Jones said he would face any consequences of his order.

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