Commissioner Wayne Branch was elected as a Duplin County Commissioner in 2019. He also serves as Youth Pastor and a member of the personnel committee at Adoram Baptist Church in Wallace, NC.

Following Hurricane Matthew, Duplin County released the Hurricane Matthew Resilient Redevelopment Plan in May 2017. Through three public meetings and coordination with county officials, the plan identified several actions tied to the impacts of Hurricane Matthew and organized them into four pillars: housing, economic development, infrastructure, and environment. Following Hurricane Florence in 2018, the county received nearly $5 million through FEMA’s Public Assistance program to remove debris and reimburse the state’s Department of Transportation for the repair of roads in Duplin County.