For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

(1) AUTHORITY. The public corporation organized pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(2) COMMISSION. The Building Commission created by Section 41-9-140 and its successors as the state agency for awarding construction contracts and supervising construction.

(3) DEPARTMENT. The Alabama Department of Corrections created by Section 14-1-1.1 and its successors as the state agency responsible for supervising and controlling the operation of the correctional institutions of the state.

(4) STATE. The State of Alabama.

(5) BONDS. The bonds issued under the provisions of this chapter.

(6) FACILITIES. Such term includes any one or more of the following:

a. Prisons;

b. Buildings and enclosures for housing, containing or supervising prisoners; and

c. Any facilities necessary or useful in connection with prisons, buildings or enclosures, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, hospitals, offices, correctional officers' quarters and residences, warehouses, garages, storage facilities, abattoirs, cold storage plants, canning plants, laundries and manufacturing plants for the employment of prison labor.

(7) KILBY PROPERTY. Such term includes all of the real property commonly referred to as Kilby prison property, embracing not only the real property owned by the state on which Kilby prison is located, but also all real property owned by the state used in connection with Kilby prison and adjacent thereto, all located in sections 2, 3, 10, 11, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 33, 34 and 35 in township 17, range 18 in Montgomery County, Alabama, together with all personal property owned by the state and used in connection with Kilby prison and the real property adjacent thereto.

In anticipation of issuance of bonds under this chapter, the authority may, from time to time, borrow such sums as may be needed, not exceeding $1,000,000.00 in aggregate principal amount, for any of the purposes for which bonds are authorized to be issued under this chapter and in evidence of the moneys so borrowed may issue its promissory notes. The authorized principal amount of notes that may be issued under this section shall be reduced to the extent that bonds may be issued under this chapter. The principal of and the interest on notes so issued may, from time to time, be refunded by refunding notes or by bonds in anticipation of the issuance of which such notes were issued. All such notes, whether initial issues or refunding issues, may bear interest from their dates until their maturities at such rate or rates as may be deemed acceptable by the board of directors, not to exceed 10 percent per annum, shall mature within two years from their date, and the principal thereof, premium, if any, and interest thereon shall be payable solely from the proceeds of the refunding notes issued to refund any such notes outstanding, the proceeds from the sale of bonds in anticipation of the issuance of which any such notes were issued and funds from which such bonds may be made payable, all as may be provided in the resolution of the board of directors under which such notes may be issued.

The bonds and notes of the authority shall be executed by the manual or facsimile signature of either its president or its treasurer, as shall be provided in the resolution under which such securities shall be issued, and the seal of the authority or a facsimile thereof shall be affixed to any bonds so issued and attested by its secretary; provided, that if bonds are executed entirely by facsimile, such bonds shall be authenticated by the manual signature of the bond trustee, registrar or paying agent. If, after any of the bonds shall be so signed, whether manually or by facsimile, any such officer shall for any reason vacate his said office, the bonds so signed may nevertheless be delivered at any time thereafter as the act and deed of the authority.

For the purpose of providing funds for the acquisition of sites, for the construction, reconstruction, alteration and improvement of facilities, for the procurement and installation of equipment therefor and for payment of obligations incurred and the principal of and interest on any temporary loans made for any of the said purposes, the authority is hereby authorized, from time to time, to sell and issue, in addition to all bonds heretofore authorized to be issued by the authority, its bonds in such aggregate principal amounts as may be determined by the corporation to be necessary for the said purposes but not to exceed $25,000,000, plus an additional seven million five hundred thousand dollars ($7,500,000) pursuant to Act 97-950, in aggregate principal amount.

Any bonds issued pursuant to this section, as amended by Act 97-950, shall be sold by competitive bid using a financial institution whose principal office is located in Alabama as the financing agent.

It is hereby further provided that no refunding bonds as provided for by Section 14-2-13 shall be issued unless the present value of all debt service on the refunding bonds (computed with a discount rate equal to the true interest rate of the refunding bonds and taking into account all underwriting discount and other issuance expenses) shall not be greater than 95% of the present value of all debt service on the bonds to be refunded (computed using the same discount rate and taking into account the underwriting discount and other issuance expenses originally applicable to such bonds) determined as if such bonds to be refunded were paid and retired in accordance with the schedule of maturities (considering mandatory redemption as a scheduled maturity) provided at the time of their issuance. Provided further that the average maturity of the refunding bonds, as measured from the date of issuance of such refunding bonds, shall not exceed by more than three years the average maturity of the bonds to be refunded, as also measured from such date of issuance, with the average maturity of any principal amount of bonds to be determined by multiplying the principal of each maturity by the number of years (including any fractional part of a year) intervening between such date of issuance and each such maturity, taking the sum of all such products, and then dividing such sum by the aggregate principal amount of bonds for which the average maturity is to be determined.

The authority may, from time to time, sell and issue its refunding bonds for the purpose of refunding any matured or unmatured bonds of the authority at the time outstanding and any premiums necessary to be paid to redeem any such bonds so to be refunded. Such refunding bonds shall be subrogated and entitled to all priorities, rights and pledges to which the bonds refunded thereby were entitled.

Any bonds of the authority may be executed and delivered by it at any time and from time to time, shall be in such form and denominations and of such tenor and maturities, shall bear such rate or rates of interest payable and evidenced in such manner, may contain provisions for redemption prior to maturity and may contain other provisions not inconsistent with this section, all as may be provided by the resolution of the board of directors whereunder such bonds are authorized to be issued; provided, that no bond of the authority shall have a specified maturity date later than 20 years after its date. In the event that the authority shall make more than one pledge of the same revenues, such pledges shall, unless otherwise provided in the resolution or resolutions authorizing the earlier issued bonds, take precedence in the order of the adoption of the resolutions in which the pledges are made; provided, that each pledge for the benefit of refunding bonds shall have the same priority as the pledge for the benefit of the bonds refunded thereby.

(a) Any resolution or indenture of trust authorizing any bonds under this chapter shall contain a recital that they are issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, which recital shall be conclusive evidence that said bonds have been duly authorized pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, notwithstanding the provisions of any other law now in force or hereafter enacted or amended.

(b) Upon the passage of any resolution or approval of any indenture or trust providing for the issuance of bonds under the provisions of this chapter, the authority may, in its discretion, cause to be published once in each of two consecutive weeks in a newspaper published and having general circulation in the City of Montgomery, Alabama, a notice in substantially the following form, the blanks being first properly filled in:

"Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority, an Agency of the State of Alabama, on the _____ day of _____, 19__, adopted a resolution providing for the issuance of _____ Dollars principal amount of bonds of said Authority. Any action or proceeding questioning the validity of said resolution or said bonds or the pledges and agreements made in said resolution for the benefit thereof, or the proceedings under which said bonds, pledges and agreements were authorized, must be commenced within 20 days after the first publication of this notice.

Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority.

(c) Any action or proceeding in any court seeking to set aside or invalidate a resolution providing for the issuance of bonds under the provisions of this chapter or to contest the validity of any such bonds or the validity of any pledge or agreement made therefor must be commenced within 20 days after the first publication of said notice. After the expiration of 20 days following such first publication, no right of action or defense founded upon the validity of the resolution, indenture of trust or other proceedings, if any, or of the bonds or of the pledges or agreements shall be asserted. In the event of such publication, the validity of such resolution, indenture of trust, proceedings, bonds, pledges or agreements shall not be open to question in any court upon any ground whatever, except in an action or proceeding commenced within such period. Any such action shall be brought in the circuit court of Montgomery County, Alabama.

The bonding authority provided herein must file a report, in concise, simple language to each legislator between the first and the twelfth legislative day of each legislative session which shall reflect the date of the issuance of the bonds, total amount of the bonds, maturity date, schedule of payments, including interest and principal, amount of attorney fees, architect fees and bond attorney fees, discount points and all other costs incurred in the issuance of and sale of the bonds herein authorized, and to what person, firm, corporation, company or other entity to which any such fees or money is to be or has been paid.

Bonds of the authority may be sold at such price or prices and at such time or times as the board of directors of the authority may consider advantageous, either at public sale or private sale. Bonds of the authority sold by competitive bid must be sold, whether on sealed bids or at public auction, to the bidder whose bid reflects the lowest effective borrowing cost to the authority for the bonds being sold; provided, that if no bid acceptable to the authority is received, it may reject all bids. Notice of each such sale by competitive bids shall be given by publication in either a financial journal or a financial newspaper published in the City of New York, New York, and also by publication in a newspaper published in the State of Alabama, each of which notices must be published at least one time not less than 10 days before the date for the sale. The board of directors may fix the terms and conditions under which such sale may be held; provided, that such terms and conditions shall not conflict with any of the requirements of this chapter. The authority may pay out of the proceeds of the sale of its bonds all expenses, including capitalized interest during a period not to exceed one year from the date of issuance of such bonds, publication and printing charges, attorneys' fees and other expenses which said board of directors may deem necessary and advantageous in connection with the authorization, advertisement, sale, execution and issuance of such bonds. Neither a public hearing nor consent of the State Department of Finance or any other department or agency of the state shall be a prerequisite to the issuance or sale of bonds by the authority.

Any surplus in any state fund and any retirements or trust fund, where the investment thereof is permitted or required by law, may be invested in bonds issued by the authority. Unless otherwise directed by the court having jurisdiction thereof or the document which is the source of authority, a trustee, executor, administrator, guardian or one acting in any other fiduciary capacity may, in addition to any other investment powers conferred by law and with the exercise of reasonable business prudence, invest trust funds in the bonds of the authority.

Any bonds issued by the authority may be used by the holders thereof as security for deposits of any funds belonging to the state or to any instrumentality, agency or political subdivision of the state in any instance where security for such deposits may be required or permitted by law.

(a) All proceeds derived from the sale of any bonds, except refunding bonds, sold by the authority, remaining after payment of the expenses of issuance thereof, shall be turned over to the State Treasurer, shall be carried by him in a special account to the credit of the authority and shall be subject to be drawn on by the authority solely for the purposes of:

(1) Acquiring land for and constructing, reconstructing and equipping thereon one or more facilities;

(2) Paying all reasonable and necessary expenses incidental thereto, including filing, recording, surveying, legal and engineering fees and expenses;

(3) Paying the interest which will accrue on the said bonds during the period required for the construction and equipment of the said facilities and for a period not exceeding six months after the completion thereof; and

(4) Paying the principal of and interest on all then outstanding notes theretofore issued by the authority pursuant to the provisions of Section 14-2-10.

The balance of the said proceeds thereafter remaining, unless required for the construction of other facilities by the authority as shall be determined by resolution of its board of directors within six months after completion of the facilities for which the bonds were issued, shall be set aside as additional security for the bonds or shall be used to pay, purchase or redeem bonds as may be provided in the proceedings authorizing their issuance. The reasonable and necessary expenses incident to the construction of any facility shall, if deemed advisable by the authority, include all or any part of the expense of providing temporary facilities, during the construction of a new facility, for any penal or correctional institution facility which is demolished or rendered unserviceable as such.

(b) All proceeds from the sale of refunding bonds issued by the authority that remain after paying the expenses of their issuance may be used only for the purpose of refunding the principal of and any unpaid and accrued interest on the outstanding bonds of the authority for the refunding of which the refunding bonds are authorized to be issued, together with any premium that may be necessary to be paid in order to redeem or retire such outstanding bonds.

It is the intent of the Legislature, by the passage of this chapter, to authorize the incorporation of the Governor, the Commissioner of Corrections, the Director of Finance, the Lieutenant Governor and the Attorney General as a public corporation for the purposes of acquiring land, constructing and leasing correctional institutions, buildings and facilities, disposing of the Kilby property by sale or lease and to vest such corporation with all powers, authority, rights, privileges and titles that may be necessary to enable it to accomplish such purpose. This chapter shall be liberally construed in conformity with the purpose just stated.

Any portion of the principal proceeds derived from the sale of the bonds which the board of directors of the authority may determine is not then needed for any of the purposes for which the bonds are authorized to be issued shall, on order of the authority, be invested by the State Treasurer in any securities which are direct and general obligations of the United States of America or the principal of and interest on which are unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by the United States of America. Any such securities may, at any time and from time to time on order of the authority, be sold or otherwise converted by the State Treasurer into cash. The income derived from any such investments shall be disbursed on order of the authority for any purpose for which it may lawfully expend funds.

The principal of, premium, if any, and interest on the bonds of the authority shall be secured by any or all of the following, as the authority may determine:

(1) The rent and revenue for the use of one or more facilities of the authority;

(2) The net rent or sale proceeds from the Kilby property;

(3) Any bond proceeds remaining unexpended upon completion of all facilities to be constructed with such bond proceeds and the payment of the cost thereof;

(4) Any insurance proceeds which the authority may receive by reason of its ownership of any of the facilities; and

(5) Any mortgage upon or security interest in one or more facilities of the authority, granted in connection with the issuance of such bonds.

The authority shall have authority to transfer and assign any lease of any of the facilities and any lease or mortgage of the Kilby property as security for the payment of such principal, premium, if any, and interest. The bonds may be issued under, and secured by, a resolution which may, but need not, provide for an indenture of trust covering one or more facilities of the authority. Such resolution or such indenture of trust may contain any provision or agreement customarily contained in instruments securing evidences of indebtedness, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, provisions respecting the collection and application of any receipts pledged to the payment of bonds, the terms to be incorporated in lease agreements respecting the facilities, the maintenance and insurance thereof, the creation and maintenance of reserve and other special funds from such receipts and the rights and remedies available in the event of default to the holders of the bonds or to the trustee for the holders of the bonds or under any indenture of trust, all as the authority may deem advisable and as shall not be in conflict with the provisions of this chapter; provided, however, that in making such agreements or provisions the authority shall not have the power to obligate itself except with respect to its facilities, the Kilby property and the application of the receipts which it is authorized in this chapter to pledge.

If there be any default by the authority in the payment of the principal of or interest on the bonds or in any of the agreements on the part of the authority which may properly be included in any resolution or indenture of trust securing such bonds, any holder of any of the bonds or the trustee for the bondholders under any resolution or indenture of trust, if so authorized therein, may, by an action, mandamus or other proceedings, enforce payment of such items and foreclosure upon any mortgage or security interest granted as security for such bonds and compel performance of all duties of the directors and officers of the authority and shall be entitled, as a matter of right and regardless of the sufficiency of any such security or the availability of any other remedy, to the appointment of a receiver with all the power of such receiver for the maintenance, insurance and leasing of the facilities and property covered by such resolution or such indenture of trust and the collection and application of the receipts therefrom. Any such resolution or indenture of trust may contain provisions regarding the rights and remedies of any trustee thereunder and the holders of the bonds and may contain provisions restricting the individual rights of action of the holders of the bonds.

All bonds issued by the authority, while not registered, shall be construed to be negotiable instruments even though they are payable from a limited source. All coupons applicable to any bonds issued by the authority, while the applicable bonds are not registered as to both principal and interest, shall likewise be construed to be negotiable instruments although payable from a limited source.

All obligations incurred by the authority and all bonds and notes issued by it shall be solely and exclusively an obligation of the authority, payable solely from the revenues and income which may under the provisions of this chapter be pledged to the payment thereof. No obligation incurred by the authority and no bond or note issued by it shall create an obligation or debt of the state.

The Governor of the state is authorized to execute and deliver, at any time and from time to time, an appropriate deed or deeds conveying to the authority:

(1) The Kilby property,

(2) Any unimproved real property belonging to the state in any county which the department determines to be needed by the authority for the construction of facilities, and

(3) Any improved real property and any personal property associated therewith, belonging to the state in any county which the department determines to be needed by the authority for the construction, reconstruction or improvement of facilities.

(a) The authority shall have the power to sell, convey and lease all or any part of the Kilby property and, as an aid to such sale or lease, to cause to be prepared by competent real estate experts a land use map and plan. No such sale or lease shall be made, however, except at public offering, on sealed bids or at auction, and upon such published notice as the authority shall determine to be necessary or desirable in order to attract the greatest interest from prospective bidders. Notice of any public sale or lease shall, in any event, be given by publication in at least three newspapers of general circulation published in the state at least three times, the first notice to be published not less than 60 days before the date of such public offering, the second notice to be published not less than 30 days nor more than 40 days before such public offering and the third notice to be published not less than 10 days nor more than 20 days before such public offering.

(b) The award of any property offered for sale or lease shall be made to the highest responsible bidder unless all bids shall be rejected as inadequate and other public offering shall be made upon notice republished as before. Any sale shall be for all cash or at least one-third cash and the balance payable in not exceeding three years, bearing interest at the legal rate, payable in such manner as may be specified by the authority and secured by a purchase money mortgage on the property sold. Each deed or lease to effectuate any such sale or lease shall be signed in the name of the authority by its president, to which the seal of the authority shall be affixed and attested by its secretary.

(c) The proceeds of each sale or lease of any such property shall be used first to pay the reasonable and necessary expenses of the sale or lease, and the balance remaining shall be paid to the State Treasurer and held by him in a special account and disbursed on order of the authority for any one or more of the following purposes:

(1) If none of the bonds authorized in this chapter shall be outstanding at the time of the sale or lease, the said remaining proceeds, to the extent necessary, shall be used to acquire land for and to construct, reconstruct and equip one or more facilities; and

(2) At any time while any of the bonds authorized under this chapter shall be outstanding, the said remaining proceeds shall be disbursed solely for payment, at their respective maturities of the principal of, and interest on, such bonds or to redeem bonds at the then applicable redemption price provided for in the proceedings under which such bonds may be issued.

(d) Nothing contained in this section or in any pledge made pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be construed to impose a lien on any part of the Kilby property, and the purchasers and lessees of the Kilby property, or any part thereof, shall not be obligated to assure that the proceeds of any sale or lease of any of the Kilby property are disbursed as are provided in this section.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter to the contrary, the authority is authorized, in its discretion, to continue to lease to the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States of America approximately 11.8 acres of land, bounded on the north by Federal Drive, on the south and east by Gunter Air Force Base and on the west by Three-Mile Branch, of the Kilby property in the County of Montgomery known as the Eastern Radiological Laboratory and to give to the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States of America the improvements thereon consisting of four frame buildings for the purpose of maintaining and operating an environmental laboratory by said Environmental Protection Agency. Such lease is to be made upon the same terms, conditions and provisions upon which said land is presently leased; however, no such lease shall be for a term longer than the then current fiscal year of the state, but such lease may contain a grant of successive options of renewing said lease on the terms specified therein for any subsequent fiscal year or years. The authority may continue such lease for so long as the said Environmental Protection Agency maintains and operates an environmental laboratory on said land and for so long as such lease does not materially impair the security of any bonds issued by said authority.

When a facility is constructed with the proceeds from any bonds issued under this chapter, a determination on the provider of telephone service for the facility shall be made by the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Corrections.

All facilities constructed by the authority shall be constructed according to plans and specifications of architects or engineers, or both, selected by the department. Such plans and specifications shall be approved by the department and by the commission. All work in the construction of facilities, or any part thereof, which is determined by the commission to be suitable and proper for construction by prison labor under force account shall be performed by such prison labor under such supervision and directions as shall be ordered by the department. All construction of facilities or any part thereof which the commission shall determine not to be suitable and proper for construction by prison labor shall be done under the supervision and direction of the commission following award for each part of the work to the lowest responsible bidder after advertising for, receipt and public opening of sealed bids. Each such invitation for bids and the bidding documents applicable thereto shall be so arranged that any alternates shall constitute cumulative deductions from the base bid rather than additions thereto. In determining the lowest bidder if funds are insufficient to construct the facility on the lowest base bid, then the commission may proceed to consider the bids upon the basis of the base bids of all bidders minus the respective reductions stated for the first alternate. If the lowest bid so determined is not then within the funds available, the commission shall proceed to consider the base bid minus the first and second alternates together to determine the lowest bid and in like manner throughout all alternates, if need be, so that in no event shall there be any discretion as to which alternate or alternates will be used in determining the lowest responsible bidder. If no bid deemed acceptable by the commission and the authority is received, all bids may be rejected, in which event bids may again from time to time be invited and acted on as provided in this section. All such contracts shall be lump sum contracts. All contracts for the entire work on a facility shall be awarded at the same time, but notice to proceed may be withheld until prior work under another contract has progressed to a point where the joint or following work can best be coordinated for the earliest completion of the entire project in a sound and workmanlike manner. Each contract shall be executed by the authority upon the determination of the commission as to the lowest bidder. Payments made by the authority under the construction contracts shall be upon the contractor's written sworn request only if endorsed as approved by the commission or in any lesser amount the commission shall endorse as having been then earned on said contract. After the contracts for a facility have been awarded, such construction cost estimate shall be revised and all extras on the contracts shall be awarded within the funds available. The authority shall pay to the commission as a part of the cost of constructing the facility such sums for the services of its employees as may be mutually agreed between the department and the commission.

(a) The authority is hereby authorized to enter into a lease or leases of any one or more facilities constructed, acquired, reconstructed, renovated or improved by the authority under the provisions of this chapter to and with the department and any other agency, board, commission, bureau or department of the state which may be charged with the responsibility for the operation of any of the penal or correctional institutions of the state. The department and any such other agency, board, commission, bureau or department of the state and each of them are hereby authorized to lease any such facilities from the authority. No such lease shall, however, be for a term longer than the then current fiscal year of the state, but any such lease may contain a grant to the state or its agency of successive options of renewing said lease on the terms specified therein for any subsequent fiscal year or years of the state; provided, that liability for the payment of rent shall never be for a term longer than one fiscal year.

(b) Rent payment by the state or any of its agencies shall be due in accordance with the provisions of any lease by the authority of any of its facilities and shall, upon being so paid, entitle the state or such agency to quiet possession of the facilities leased for the remainder of such fiscal year. The rent for each fiscal year during which said lease agreement shall be in effect shall be due in accordance with the provisions of any lease by the authority of any of its facilities, and said rent for such fiscal year shall be payable, and any such covenant on the part of the state or any of its agencies shall be performed, solely out of the current revenues of the state for such fiscal year. The rent payable and the covenants to be performed by the state or any of its agencies under the provisions of said lease shall never create a debt of the state within the meaning of the Constitution.

(c) In the event that there shall be any default in the payment of any rent required to be paid or in the performance of any covenant required to be performed by the state or any of its agencies under the provisions of any such lease, while such lease is in effect, the authority and any pledgee of such lease may, by any appropriate proceedings instituted within the time permitted by law, enforce and compel the payment of such rent and the performance of such covenants. No free use shall be made of any facilities of the authority so long as the principal of or interest on any bonds, including refunding bonds, issued by the authority remains unpaid.

(d) In the event that any facility of the authority should become vacant or not be used by the state or one of its agencies, then neither the state nor any agency, board, bureau, commission, public corporation or department of the state shall rent, purchase, acquire, construct or lease any facility for penal or correctional use or renew any lease of any facility for penal or correctional use, nor shall it use any such facility other than those of the authority, so long as any facility of the authority shall remain vacant or unused.

The Governor, the Commissioner of Corrections, the Director of Finance, the Lieutenant Governor and the Attorney General may become a public corporation with the power and authority provided in this chapter by proceeding according to the provisions of this chapter.

If at any time any facility constructed by the authority is, or is about to be, vacant or unused as a result of there being no lease for such facility in effect for the current fiscal year, then, but only in such event, in order to prevent default on its bonds, the authority is hereby authorized to lease such facility to any other agency, department, bureau or commission of the state, any municipal corporation, public corporation, county, or other public body in the state, or any agency of the federal government other than the original lessee of said facility. Any such lease shall not be for the purpose of lending public credit but shall be solely to avoid default on the authority's bonds and to insure the prompt payment of the principal thereof and interest thereon when due.

In the resolution or proceedings authorizing the issuance of any bonds, any temporary loans or in any indenture of trust, the authority may provide for the establishment of one or more special funds for the payment of the principal of, or interest on, the bonds, certificates or notes, one or more reserve funds therefor and a fund, or funds, for the payment of insurance premiums or other expenses with respect to the ownership and leasing of the facilities or for the expense of selling and leasing the Kilby property. Any such special funds shall be held as trust funds by the State Treasurer separate and apart from all other moneys. The State Treasurer is authorized and directed to pay, solely from the special fund, or funds, provided therefor, the principal of and interest on all bonds issued under this chapter as such principal and interest respectively mature and come due and the redemption price of any bonds called prior to maturity. He shall establish and maintain appropriate records pertaining to such funds. Such records shall be available at all reasonable times to public inspection.

The properties of the authority and the income therefrom, all lease agreements made by the authority and all bonds issued by the authority, the coupons applicable thereto, the income therefrom and all lien notices with respect thereto shall be forever exempt from any and all taxation in the State of Alabama.

Any action to protect or enforce any rights under the provisions of this chapter shall be brought in the circuit court of Montgomery County, Alabama.

When all bonds and securities issued by the authority and all obligations assumed by it under the provisions of this chapter shall have been paid in full, the then president of the authority shall thereupon execute and deliver in the name of, and in behalf of, the authority an appropriate deed or deeds, to which the seal of the authority shall be affixed and attested by the secretary of the authority, conveying all facilities and other assets then owned by the authority to the state. The then officers and directors of the authority may at such time file with the Secretary of State a written statement, subscribed and sworn to by each of them, reciting the payment in full of all bonds theretofore issued by the authority and the execution and delivery of such deed or deeds, which statement shall be filed by the Secretary of State and recorded with the certificate of incorporation of the authority, and thereupon the authority shall stand dissolved.

There shall be no fees paid to the Secretary of State for any work done in connection with the incorporation or dissolution of the authority.

All leases of facilities made by the authority shall be exempt from the provisions and requirements of Chapter 16 of Title 41 of this Code.

To become a corporation, the Governor, the Commissioner of Corrections, the Director of Finance, the Lieutenant Governor and the Attorney General shall present to the Secretary of State of Alabama an application signed by them which shall set forth:

(1) The name, official designation and official residence of each of the applicants, together with a certified copy of the document evidencing each applicant's right to office;

(2) The date on which each applicant was inducted into office and the term of office of each of the applicants;

(3) The name of the proposed corporation, which shall be the "Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority";

(4) The location of the principal office of the proposed corporation; and

(5) Any other matter relating to the incorporation which the applicants may choose to insert and which is not inconsistent with this chapter or the laws of the State of Alabama.

The application shall be subscribed and sworn to by each of the applicants before an officer authorized by the laws of this state to take acknowledgments to deeds. The Secretary of State shall examine the application, and if he finds that it substantially complies with the requirements of this section, he shall receive and file it and record it in an appropriate book of records in his office.

When the application has been made, filed and recorded as provided in Section 14-2-4, the Secretary of State shall make and issue to the applicants a certificate of incorporation pursuant to this chapter, under the great seal of the state, and shall record the certificate with the application, whereupon the applicants shall constitute a public corporation and agency of the state under the name proposed in the application.

The applicants named in the application and their respective successors in office shall constitute the members of the authority. The Governor shall be the president of the authority, the Commissioner of Corrections shall be the vice-president of the authority and the Director of Finance shall be the secretary of the authority. The State Treasurer shall be the treasurer and custodian of the funds of the authority, but shall not be a member of the authority. The members of the authority shall constitute all the members of the board of directors of the authority, which shall be the governing body of the authority. A majority of the members of the said board of directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Should any person holding any state office named in this section cease to hold such office by reason of death, resignation, expiration of his term of office or for any other reason, then his successor in office shall take his place as a member, officer or director, as the case may be, of the authority. No member, officer or director of the authority shall draw any salary in addition to that now authorized by law for any service he may render or for any duty he may perform in connection with the authority. No member, officer, director or employee of the authority shall be personally liable for any debt, obligation or liability of the authority.

All resolutions adopted by the board of directors shall constitute actions of the authority, and all proceedings of the board of directors shall be reduced to writing by the secretary of the authority, shall be signed by the members of the authority and shall be recorded in a substantially bound book and filed in the office of the Secretary of State. Copies of such proceedings, when certified by the secretary of the authority under the seal of the authority, shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of the matters and things therein certified.

The authority shall have the following powers among others specified in this chapter:

(1) To have succession in its corporate name until the principal of and interest on all bonds issued by it shall have been fully paid and until it shall have been dissolved as provided in this chapter;

(2) To maintain actions and have actions maintained against it and to prosecute and defend in any court having jurisdiction of the subject matter and of the parties thereof;

(3) To have and to use a corporate seal and to alter such seal at pleasure;

(4) To establish a fiscal year;

(5) To acquire and hold title to real and personal property and to sell, convey, mortgage or lease the same as provided in this chapter;

(6) To provide for the construction, reconstruction, alteration and improvement of facilities and for the procurement of sites and equipment for such facilities and for the lease thereof;

(7) To lease facilities to the state, the department, and any other agency or instrumentality of the state;

(8) To anticipate by the issuance of its bonds as limited in this chapter the receipt of the rent and revenues from such facilities and from the net rent and sale proceeds of the Kilby property;

(9) As security for the payment of the principal of and interest on its bonds, to enter into any lawful covenant, to grant mortgages upon and security interests in its facilities and to pledge the rents and revenues from such facilities and from the net rent and sale proceeds of the Kilby property;

(10) To invest as provided in this chapter the proceeds from the sale of its bonds pending need therefor; and

(11) To appoint and employ such attorneys, agents and employees as the business of the authority may require, subject to the merit system where applicable.

The authority shall have the same power of eminent domain as the state. Such power shall be exercised in the same manner and under the same conditions as is provided by law for the exercise of the power of eminent domain by the state.