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A Dane County judge signed an order Tuesday that temporarily bars the execution of evictions in Dane County, while the threat of the new coronavirus exists.

The order, signed by Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn, who is the presiding judge in Dane County, affects a small number of evictions that had been ordered in small claims court before Dane County last week greatly reduced the number of cases that would be heard in court, including eviction cases.

Bailey-Rihn said evictions were pending in probably six or fewer cases. Tuesday's order suspends what are formally called writs of restitution.

Judges in Dane County acted last week to suspend many cases in order to reduce the number of people coming to the Dane County Courthouse, to lessen the chance that new coronavirus would be spread among courthouse visitors and staff.

"We all need to do what we need to do go get through this," Bailey-Rihn said. Having people forced onto the street, especially while schools are closed, would not help, she said. "I respect landlords, but we're all going to have to make sacrifices."

She said many landlords have been understanding about the temporary suspension of small claims cases, and there hasn't been a lot of pushback over it.

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