2024-2028 Term
District 1 — Hal Hayes
District 2 — Joe Dyess (Vice President)
District 3 — Andrew Chapman
District 4 — Keith Clay (President)
District 5 — Henry Cooley
Address: Wayne County Courthouse, 609 Azalea Drive, Waynesboro, MS 39367
Telephone: 601-735-3414
Fax: 601-735-6230
The Wayne County Board of Supervisors is made up of five members — each being elected from one of five single-member districts, which are to be as equal as possible in population based on the federal Census conducted every 10 years.
Pursuant to the Mississippi Constitution, the board is delegated “full jurisdiction over [county] roads, ferries and bridges, to be exercised in accordance with such regulations as the Legislature may prescribe.” This responsibility is unquestionably a matter of vital importance to the life of every county.
However, it is important to recognize roads and bridges represent only one of the board’s many concerns. The powers and duties of the panel have been substantially expanded over the years by legislative action. In today’s counties, the board is delegated a variety of other public duties of equal importance that touch virtually every facet of life. As is the case with the board of directors of a major corporation, the board of supervisors has the task of guiding and establishing policy for the complex multi-million-dollar enterprise of county government.
As members of the board, supervisors make decisions that directly impact economic development, public health, safety and welfare. Suffice it to say, the office of county supervisor is a position of public trust that has certain attendant duties and obligations. Those that enter the office do not take these duties and obligations lightly.
Meeting policies for the board
Supervisors must accomplish the business of the county by collective and official action during regularly scheduled meetings held on the first Monday of each month (or moved to the next official business day if that Monday is a recognized holiday) in the Supervisors’ Chambers at the Wayne County Courthouse, at 609 Azalea Drive in Waynesboro.
Additionally, the board typically holds a work session-meeting on the second Thursday of each month.
When deemed necessary, a special meeting of the board can be called by the president (or vice president in the absence or disability of the president) or any three members of the panel. Notice of the special meeting must be entered in full upon the minutes of the board and must specify each item of business to be transacted at the special meeting. Only the items of business specified in the notice of the special meeting
can be considered or acted upon. The board must give at least five days’ notice of the special meeting by posting an advertisement at the courthouse door or publishing an advertisement in a newspaper of the county.
In cases of emergency arising from serious damage to county property, including roads and bridges, or from an epidemic or severe weather, or from a situation where immediate action is required for the repair of county roads and bridges, a special meeting may be called in the manner specified above for the purpose of considering the emergency and taking appropriate action. The notice shall state the time of the meeting and distinctly specify the subject matters of business to be acted upon and be signed before a notary by the officer or officers calling the meeting. At least three hours before the time fixed for the meeting, notice shall be personally delivered to the members of the board who have not signed it and who can be found. The notice shall also be posted at the courthouse door at least three hours before the time fixed for the meeting.
If a member of the board cannot be found to complete the personal delivery of the notice, the president, vice president or any one of the two members of the board calling an emergency meeting shall make every attempt, within the applicable notice period, to contact the board member that was not personally found by other available means, including, but not limited to, telephone or email. The method of notice used to call the meeting shall be entered on the minutes of the emergency meeting, and business not specified in the notice shall not be transacted at the meeting.
All meetings of the board are open to the public.