Turner put back in as Perry County Commission chair, two new commissioners sworn in at organizational meeting

The Perry County Commission added two new commissioners and put its former chairman back at the head of the table on Nov. 13.  

Barbara Howze was sworn in to the District 4 seat after defeating two-term commissioner Cedric Hudson in the primary election. Hudson mounted an unsuccessful write-in campaign for the general election.  

Carlton Lewis was sworn in to the District 5 seat. He defeated Ben Eaton in the primary election. Eaton ran in the general election as an independent but was defeated by Lewis again. 

After the swearing in ceremony, an organizational meeting was held by the commission as per state law. The purpose of these meetings is to elect a commission chair and vice chair and to set the date and time for meetings. 

Commission Chairman Brett Harrison said during the meeting that there would be “limited action” by the commission that day. Harrison said only the vice chair would be chosen at the organizational meeting because the previous commission passed a resolution that established a rotating two-year term for the chairman. That resolution gave the chairmanship to the most senior commissioner, which took the position from Albert Turner Jr. and put Harrison in as chair. 

Turner said state required the commission to select a chairman. County Attorney Prince Chestnut, who was presiding over the meeting, said unless the commission votes not to elect a chairman, state law says it must be done during the organizational meeting – the meeting they were holding.  

Chestnut then asked for nominations for chairman. Howze nominated Turner. Commissioner Anthony Long nominated Harrison. The vote was in favor of Turner, putting him back in the position of commission chairman.  

Chestnut then took nominations for vice chair. Howze nominated Lewis. Harrison nominated Long. The commission voted to elect Lewis as vice chairman. 

The commission also voted to do away with the rotating chairman system and continue operation with no limit on the term length of the chair. They also voted to remove the names of Harrison and Eaton as signature names on financial accounts, putting in their place Turner and Lewis. 

The commission will keep the current meeting schedule, which is the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. Meetings start at 6 p.m. and are held in the Albert Turner Sr. Courthouse Annex building. Public comment sessions start at 5:30 p.m. before the meetings. 

The new commission voted to retain the Chestnut Firm as the county attorneys.