Lancaster County Council swears in four members and elects Carnes chair

Lancaster County Council held a swearing-in ceremony and elected council officers at a meeting at the Lancaster County administration building in early 2025. Clerk of Court Mike Watkins administered the oath to four newly elected or reelected council members: Stuart Graham (District 1), Billy Mosteller (District 3), Steve Harper (District 5) and Brian Carnes (District 7).

The council then conducted nominations and unanimous votes by hand raise to select officers for two-year terms. County Attorney Ginny Merck DuPont (name spelling varied in the record) presided over the officer elections. Councilmember Brian Carnes was nominated and elected chairperson; Councilmember Billy Mosteller was nominated and elected vice chairperson; and Councilmember Bridal Neal was nominated and elected secretary. The meeting record indicates each election was approved unanimously by those present, though individual roll-call vote counts were not recorded in the transcript.

The oath administered by Watkins mirrored the standard pledge used for county office, in which officials swear to be duly qualified under the constitution of the state, to discharge the duties of the office to the best of their ability, and to preserve, protect and defend both the state constitution and the U.S. Constitution. The council attorney announced that the elected officers will serve two-year terms.

The meeting concluded with an invitation to a post-meeting reception and a motion to adjourn, which passed by voice vote. No citizen comments were filed for this meeting, and no other substantive agenda items were taken up during the session recorded in the transcript.