The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office released an informational video about its role in the evictions process.

The 2 minute and 44 second video is narrated by Col. Nathanial “Nat” Nation.

Nation opened with, “Evictions, it’s a big bad word … everybody sees us on TV, over at the Sheriff’s Office, we’re the ones putting people’s stuff out on the curb.”

He then said, “Just to kind of put that in perspective, the sheriff’s office does not physically remove items from a residence or a business.”

“Our role is to oversee the eviction companies, provide security, and keep the process peaceful,” he said.

He said that an eviction writ is signed by a judge after a hearing.

“The sheriff’s office is responsible for working with the plaintiff to schedule these evictions,” said Nation.

Evictions are now scheduled about nine weeks out after the Sheriff’s Office receives the writ, he said.

Nation said that in April, May, and June of this year 98 evictions were served, whereas in 2019 during that same period 540 were served.

“On August 3 of this month, the CDC issued another temporary halt on residential evictions in communities with substantial or high level community transmission of COVID-19 to prevent the further spread of COVID,” he said. Nation said the halt expires on October 3.

“Under this order, you can still be served with an eviction notice. I want to repeat that,” he said. “You can still be served with an eviction notice.”

“If you are served with a notice, you are required to respond to that notice within seven calendar days,” Nation said. “You will also be required to appear in court for any scheduled hearings in reference to that.”

He said that the halt does not apply to commercial evictions, and that those have continued throughout the pandemic.