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Jefferson County Council elects Dwayne May as 2026 president, names Gary Copeland vice president
Summary
At its Jan. 13 meeting, Jefferson County Council elected Dwayne May as council president and confirmed Gary Copeland as vice president. The council also discussed departmental liaisons and adopted uniform meeting guidelines for 2026.
Jefferson County Council elected Dwayne May as its president for 2026 on Jan. 13, choosing leadership by voice vote after nominations from council members. Dwayne May accepted the office, saying, "I'm honored to serve as president."
The council also confirmed Gary Copeland as vice president. Members discussed making departmental liaisons part of each council member’s duties so members can act as points of contact for large offices such as the sheriff's department and county highway. The president urged members to identify departments they would like to liaise with and to notify him by email.
Council members flagged schedule conflicts for boards that meet during daytime hours and agreed to revisit assignments where necessary. The meeting concluded that some appointments will be finalized and voted on together after discussion.
The council adopted meeting guidelines for 2026, which set meeting start times at 5:30 p.m., established a public-comment process (three minutes per speaker, at the end of the meeting unless the president grants additional time), and required livestreaming on the county government YouTube channel. The guidelines were adopted by voice vote.
Next steps: council members were asked to confirm department-liaison choices; formal votes on some board appointments will occur at a later meeting.
