Daviess County council elects 2026 officers, approves salary changes and green-lights EMS contract increase pending appropriation

Daviess County council members elected new leadership for 2026 and approved a set of budget and personnel motions during a regular meeting that also included a detailed jail report and a discussion of an EMS contract needing additional funding.

The meeting opened with routine business, including approval of the Dec. 10 meeting minutes. Nominations for officers followed: a council member nominated Tony Dungeon for president, and the motion carried. Mike Myers nominated Matt Meredith for vice president; that motion also passed.

Why it matters: The officer elections set who will steer the council’s agenda and committees this year, and the votes cleared several administrative and fiscal housekeeping items that affect staffing and planned payments.

The council approved two salary-ordinance amendments for Community Corrections that the advisory board had already endorsed. Speaker 9 told the council the advisory board approved the screening coordinator position and the clerical/administrative assistant pay changes and asked the fiscal office to make the necessary accounting switches so the new rates can be paid.

Speaker 10 provided the jail and…