There shall be a State Geologist. In the event of a vacancy in the office of State Geologist from any cause, the most competent geologist available, either from the staff of the Geological Survey of Alabama or elsewhere, to be designated by the President of the University of Alabama with the approval of the Governor, shall be the State Geologist, whose term of office shall be at the will of the appointing powers. Whenever a vacancy shall subsequently occur, said vacancy shall be filled in a like manner, and the tenure of office shall be determined as aforesaid.

Whenever the State Geologist has in hand, ready for publication, material for a bulletin or any other report of his surveys and investigations of the mineral, agricultural or other natural resources of the state, he shall report the same to the Governor, and a committee consisting of the Governor, Secretary of State and State Geologist shall then determine the number of such bulletin or report which shall be printed and published.

The State Geologist is hereby empowered and directed to cooperate with the United States Geological Survey in the execution of the topographic surveys of the State of Alabama in a manner sufficiently elaborate to prepare maps on scales which may be agreed upon for different localities exhibiting the land and water features, relief, roads, buildings and all civil boundary lines as marked on the ground at the time field surveys are executed and to establish permanent bench marks along highways and other routes of travel marked with elevations based on mean sea level.

Subject to approval of the Director of Finance, the State Geologist is authorized to enter into an agreement with the Director of the United States Geological Survey whereby the expense of executing the field surveys and the preparation of the resulting maps for publication shall be borne by the State of Alabama and by the federal government in such proportion as is equitable to both governments.

In order to carry out the provisions of Sections 9-4-11 and 9-4-12, it shall be lawful for any person or persons employed under this chapter to enter and cross all lands in the state, provided that in so doing no damage is done to private property.

The State Geological Survey of Alabama and the State Oil and Gas Board may retain the services of faculty members or students of any institution of higher learning within the State of Alabama for the purposes of carrying on or supervising research and to conduct experimental matters and to do other related work in the field of geology and in the exploration, production and promotion of oil and gas in the State of Alabama. The services and compensation of such persons so retained or hired shall be in accordance with the conditions set forth in Sections 9-4-14 through 9-4-19.

In order to secure the services of any person who is qualified under the terms of Sections 9-4-14 through 9-4-19 to do research or experimental or promotional work for the Geological Survey of Alabama or the State Oil and Gas Board, such persons so retained or hired shall be required to enter into an agreement in writing with said survey or board, which agreement, before it becomes binding upon either party, shall be first approved in writing by the State Personnel Department. In the event the services of a faculty member are secured, the contract, as specified in this section, before it becomes binding shall first be approved in writing by the president of the institution in which such faculty member is associated in his official capacity as a faculty member; and, in the event the services of a student are secured, the contract, as specified in this section, before it becomes binding shall first be approved in writing by the dean of the school to which such student is attached in his official capacity as such student. The approval by the president of the institution as in the case of a faculty member or the approval by the dean as in the case of a student shall be in addition to the approval required in this section by the State Personnel Department.

The written agreement between the person whose services are secured and the agency to which such services are to be applied as provided for in Sections 9-4-14 through 9-4-19 shall contain the terms, conditions and specifications of the duties and requirements of work which said person shall render to said agency.

No person shall be retained under the terms of Sections 9-4-14 through 9-4-19 at a time or for such duration which will unduly interfere with the ordinary duties of such faculty member or such student in the ordinary capacities in which he is engaged as such faculty member or student.

By the execution of a service contract as specified in Sections 9-4-14 through 9-4-19, the person whose services are hired or retained shall not be subject to the provisions of the state Merit System Act but shall be in the capacity of an independent contractor, and each contract written for such service shall contain provisions specifying this fact.

The amount of compensation which persons whose services are retained to do research, experimental, promotional and related work for the Geological Survey of Alabama and the State Oil and Gas Board shall be specified in the written agreement provided for and required by the terms of Sections 9-4-14 through 9-4-19. Such compensation shall be paid from the State Geological Survey funds or the state oil and gas funds depending upon which agency enters into the said service contract. The compensation for such services shall be paid at such times and in the same manner as regular state employees are paid for their employment to such agencies.

(a) It shall be the duty of the State Geologist to devote his entire time to the administrative duties of his office and to making explorations and examinations of the mineral, agricultural, biological and other natural resources of the state so as to determine accurately the quality and character of its soils and their adaptation to agricultural purposes and especially to the occurrence and quality of phosphates, marls, gypsum and other natural fertilizers, its mineral resources and their locations, character and capacity for development, its water powers and their capacity, its forest trees and their utilities and distribution and its other plant and animal forms useful or noxious; and it shall be the duty of him and his assistants, whenever they discover any deposits of ores or other resources of value, to notify immediately the owners of the land on which such deposits occur, but no individual or firm or corporation shall have the right to call upon or require the State Geologist to enter upon any special survey for his or its individual benefit. The survey is to proceed upon a settled plan for the benefit of the public and prospectors and investors in general.

(b) He shall also make to the Legislature at each of its regular sessions a report of the progress of his explorations and examinations together with such analyses of soils or of minerals, mineral waters, etc., with maps and charts as may be needed for illustrations, which report shall be printed and shall be the exclusive property of the state.

(c) He shall also make collections of specimens illustrative of the geological, agricultural and other natural resources of the state which, after they shall have served the immediate purposes of the survey, shall be placed in the museum of the survey in Smith Hall at the University of Alabama as a permanent exhibit, except that duplicates of these specimens and excess material may be distributed by the State Geologist to educational institutions of the state which may request them and have use for them.

(d) He shall also from time to time prepare or cause to be prepared monographs, special reports or bulletins of the geology and varied resources of the state which shall be printed and published under the provisions of Article 5, Chapter 4 of Title 41.

Subject to the provisions of the Merit System, the State Geologist may appoint, with the approval of the Governor, such assistants, including a competent chemist, for such periods and with such compensation as he may deem necessary to the best interests of the survey; provided, that said assistants shall devote their entire time to the work of the survey, and no part of the funds available to the survey shall be expended for the salary or compensation in whole or in part of any member of the teaching staff or other employee of the University of Alabama, provided that not more than one of the present employees doing joint service may be retained, the object of this provision being to secure the services of full-time employees and to preclude the payment of salaries or other compensation of teachers or other employees of the university, thereby guaranteeing an entire separation of the work of the survey from that of the university.

The State Geologist and the Assistant State Geologist of the State Geological Survey of Alabama during their course of employment as such officials and under the conditions hereinafter set forth in Sections 9-4-4 through 9-4-7 shall be permitted to teach graduate or undergraduate courses at the University of Alabama which are connected with or related to the study of geology or affiliated or associated subjects.

The teaching of courses connected with or related to the study of geology or affiliated or associated subjects by the State Geologist or Assistant State Geologist shall be permitted only during such time as will not unduly interfere with their employment with the State Geological Survey of Alabama or with the State Oil and Gas Board and such teaching shall be limited to courses which require not more than an aggregate of six hours of resident classroom teaching per week. Such teaching shall be permitted during regular scholastic terms, summer school courses or classes for special students as provided by the curricula of the University of Alabama.

The State Geologist and the Assistant State Geologist shall receive as compensation for teaching classes under the conditions provided for in Sections 9-4-4 through 9-4-7, in addition to the compensation which they receive for acting in their official capacities as State Geologist and Assistant State Geologist of the State Geological Survey of Alabama, an amount set by the President of the University of Alabama. This amount of compensation shall be consistent with the salary schedule of the University of Alabama for payment of similar services by regular professors or teachers whose services are engaged by the University of Alabama to teach courses of study therein. The compensation for such teaching services shall be paid out of such funds of the University of Alabama which are provided for payment to the teachers of classes at the University of Alabama. The payments for such teaching services shall be made at the same time and in the same manner and under the same conditions as other professors and teachers of the University of Alabama are paid for the same or similar services.

The act of teaching by the State Geologist or the Assistant State Geologist as specified and permitted under the terms of Sections 9-4-4 through 9-4-7 shall not entitle either of such officials to participate as members of the Teachers' Retirement System of Alabama or to enjoy the privileges or benefits of such membership, nor shall the act of teaching by such officials be deemed to alter or enhance in any way their status as such officials except as may be expressly set forth in such sections.

The annual appropriation shall be devoted, so far as may be necessary to execute the purposes of this chapter, to the discharge of the expenses of the survey, including the compensation of all temporary and permanent assistants, traveling expenses of the geologist and geological corps, in and out of the state, purchase of apparatus and materials for making chemical analysis, other expenditures for outfit, expenses incurred in providing for the transportation, arrangement and proper exhibition of the geological and other collections made on the authority of this chapter and the engraving of maps and sections, etc., to illustrate the quadrennial reports of progress; provided, however, that no payment shall be made by the survey to the university on account of rent or permanent improvements, nor shall the university make use of the survey's apparatus and materials for making chemical analysis nor share in expenditures for outfit referred to herein.

Upon the requisition of the State Geologist, when approved by the Governor, the Comptroller shall draw his warrant on the Treasurer for the amount appropriated in such sums as may be needed from time to time for the purposes provided for in this chapter. For all expenditures made under the provisions of this chapter, except for the salary of the State Geologist, the approval of the Governor must be obtained and the vouchers of the State Geologist for all such expenditures must be filed quarterly with the Comptroller, and a statement of his receipts and expenditures shall accompany each quadrennial report of the State Geologist.