Six months after they changed their meeting times to the evening hours, the Covington County Commission voted Thursday night to change back to morning meetings.

Commissioner Kenneth Northey brought the motion, which changes the commission’s meeting schedule to 8 a.m. on the second Wednesday of each month. At present, the commission meets on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, with workshop meetings on the Tuesday nights prior.

Norhey’s motion, which drew support from Commissioner Harold Elmore and Commissioner Carl Turman, came after a motion by Commissioner Joe Barton to keep the current schedule failed to draw a second.

Commission Chairman Bill Godwin, who votes only in the case of a tie, was opposed to the move.

“I feel like we’ve had greater participation by having workshops and meetings at night,” he said. “We all get paid to be here whether it’s in the morning or night. I hate to see citizens take off from work, and take a cut in pay to be here. I don’t mind being inconvenienced to serve the public.”

“I don’t mind being inconvenienced, either,” Turman said. “But we can set a workshop or a special meeting if we need to.”