There shall be a county superintendent of education in each county of this state who shall act as the chief executive officer of the county board of education and who shall also be secretary of the county board of education. The county board of education of each county shall appoint a superintendent of schools for a term of from two to four years from the first day of July next succeeding his appointment.

Any person possessing the qualifications prescribed by law for a certificate of administration and supervision required as a qualification of a county superintendent of education shall be entitled to have a certificate signed by the State Superintendent of Education showing such qualifications upon application in writing on blanks prescribed by the State Board of Education and the submission of satisfactory proof showing that he is entitled to the same. It shall be the duty of the State Superintendent of Education, where a person is qualified to receive such certificate and has complied with the provision of law relative to securing same, to forthwith issue the same. In the event the State Superintendent of Education when it is his duty to do so fails to issue such certificate within two weeks and there is no good reason for such failure, he shall be subject to a penalty of $250.00 to be recovered for the benefit of the person entitled to such certificate in a suit by such person in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County.

A vacancy in the office of county superintendent shall be filled by the county board of education within 90 days after such a vacancy occurs. In the event such vacancy is not filled by the county board of education within 90 days, the state superintendent shall fill such vacancy by appointment. The appointee shall hold office for the unexpired term. "Term," as used in this section, includes, in addition to those terms the beginning and ending of which are fixed definitely by the law, terms fixed by the county board of education, in which latter case the unexpired term shall be the balance of the term fixed for the last person serving as such officer; provided, that when there is such vacancy which the state superintendent is authorized to fill, and no term has been fixed by the county board of education, and no term of definite duration is fixed by law, the appointee of the State Superintendent of Education shall serve two years from the next succeeding first day of July.

The county superintendent of education shall devote his entire time to public school business. In counties in which the maximum salary of the county superintendent of education is not fixed by law, the county superintendent of education shall receive such compensation, including salary and travel expenses, as the county board of education shall direct. In counties where superintendents of education are elected by a direct vote of the qualified electors, the salary for the office must be fixed prior to the beginning of the term of office. The boards of education in counties where the maximum salary of the superintendent of education is prescribed by law are hereby empowered to fix, approve and authorize the payment of the traveling expenses not in excess of $600.00 annually incurred by the superintendent in the performance of his official duties within and without the county.

The county superintendent of education, as the executive officer of the county board of education, shall see that the laws relating to the schools, the rules and regulations of the state and county boards of education are carried into effect. The county superintendent of education shall have authority to administer oaths and to examine witnesses, under oath, in any part of the county on any matter pertaining to the public schools of the county, and to cause the examination to be reduced to writing.

The county superintendent of education, subject to the provisions of this title, shall recommend for approval and adoption by the county board of education the kind, grade and location of schools to be established and maintained and the compulsory school attendance districts to be established.

The county superintendent of education, as executive officer of the county board of education, shall call and conduct conferences with principals, teachers, attendance officers, school trustees and other interested citizens and shall in every way seek to foster in teachers professional insight and efficiency and to develop public interest in education.

(a) The county superintendent of education shall recommend a building program adequate to the present and future needs of the schools in the county, subject to the provisions of this title.

(b) He shall recommend a plan for the laying out of such local attendance district or districts as will best serve the interests of the entire county and shall submit the same for approval and adoption by the county board of education.

The county superintendent of education shall recommend to the county board of education for condemnation school buildings which are unsanitary and unfit for use. He shall recommend in writing all repairs, purchase of playgrounds and school sites and buildings to be erected with state, county and local aid and shall see to it that the plans and specifications and the rules and regulations of the State Board of Education, with reference to the erection, repair and equipment of the school buildings, are carefully followed. He shall approve in writing all contracts of whatever kind entered into by the county board of education.

The county superintendent of education, subject to the provisions of this title, shall prepare and submit for approval and adoption by the county board of education rules and regulations governing the conditions under which children may be admitted to junior and senior high schools of the county.

(a) The county superintendent of education shall be chosen for his general fitness and character and shall be a person of recognized ability as a school administrator. No person shall be eligible for appointment by any county board of education or for any political party nomination, or for election to the office of county superintendent of education unless such person:

(1) Holds an Alabama certificate in administration and supervision based upon requirements established by the State Board of Education for such certificate;

(2) Has had not less than five years of experience in public school work at the time he assumes office;

(3) Submits proof to the State Superintendent of Education of three years of successful educational experience as a teacher, principal, supervisor, superintendent, educational administrator or instructor in school administration during the five years next preceding his appointment or election;

(4) Submits proof to the county board of education that he holds a degree from a recognized four-year college or university; and

(5) If such person is to be appointed by the county board of education, submits proof to the county board that he is knowledgeable in school administration.

(b) A county superintendent of education, whether elected or appointed, need not be a resident or qualified elector of the county in which he is to serve. In every county where the county superintendent of education is elected by popular vote, he shall be nominated and elected in the same manner as other county officers are nominated and elected under the state election laws.

The county superintendent of education, subject to the provisions of this title, shall work out plans for the consolidation of schools and for the grounds, buildings and equipment of such consolidated schools, and shall submit the same for approval and adoption by the county board of education.

Subject to the rules and regulations of the State Board of Education, the county superintendent of education shall prescribe courses of study for the schools of the county and submit the same for approval and adoption by the county board of education. Printed copies of these courses of study shall be supplied to every teacher and interested citizen of the county.

Subject to the rules and regulations of the State Board of Education, the county superintendent of education shall prepare rules and regulations for grading and standardizing all public schools of the county and shall submit the same for approval and adoption by the county board of education. He shall grade and standardize all public schools of the county and shall recommend the same for the approval of the county board of education.

The county superintendent of education shall nominate in writing for appointment by the county board of education all principals, teachers and all other regular employees of the board. He shall assign them to their positions, transfer them as the needs of the schools require, recommend them for promotion, suspend them for cause and recommend them for dismissal, subject to the provisions of Chapter 24 of this title.

The county board of education may in its discretion provide upon the nomination of the county superintendent of education, at least the following assistants: an elementary school supervisor and a statistical and stenographic clerk. No person shall be eligible for appointment as such supervisor who does not hold a certificate of administration and supervision as required of county superintendents of education. The county board of education may employ additional clerical and professional assistants, including health supervisors, and may reimburse them for all actual traveling expenses necessary in the performance of their official duties. The county superintendent is hereby required to maintain an office at the county seat. The county commission shall provide the county superintendent of education and his professional and clerical assistants with ample, convenient and comfortable office quarters. The county commission shall also provide necessary furniture, office equipment, stationery, postage, forms and supplies required by the county superintendent of education and his assistants.

The county superintendent of education shall organize and attend county and local institutes for teachers and citizens and shall advise teachers as to their further study in professional reading and assist parents and citizens to acquire knowledge of the aims and work of the school.

The county superintendent of education shall visit the schools, observe the management and instruction and give suggestions for the improvement of the same. He shall advise with principals, teachers, school trustees and other interested citizens, and shall endeavor in every way to promote public interest and improve the school conditions of the county.

The county superintendent of education, subject to the provisions of this title, shall prepare forms and blanks on which school trustees, supervisors, attendance officers, principals, teachers, janitors and other regular employees shall make such reports as shall be required by the county board of education and shall submit the same for approval and adoption by the county board of education.

It shall be the duty of the county superintendent of education to prepare, in accordance with the direction of the county board of education, the annual statement of receipts and disbursements which is required to be published in a newspaper and such other reports as the county board of education may require to be published for distribution among the citizens of the county. The refusal or negligent failure of the county superintendent of education to comply with the provisions of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor.

The county superintendent of education, subject to the provisions of this title, shall direct the taking of the county quadrennial school census. He shall cause the census to be retaken in whole or in part when directed to do so by the State Superintendent of Education. The county superintendent shall require the enumerators to make their report to him not later than August 15 following the date of taking the census. On or before September 1 following, the county superintendent of education shall make his consolidated report to the State Superintendent of Education. This consolidated report shall include the census data reported to him by the superintendents of schools of cities having a city board of education.

The county board of education shall fix and approve the official bond of the county superintendent of education, which shall be in a sum not less than $3,000.00.

The county superintendent of education shall see to it that the laws requiring school attendance are enforced. The county superintendent of education shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, and submit to the county board of education for adoption all reports required of the county board of education by the State Superintendent of Education, and he shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, and submit to the county board of education the annual report as required under this title.

The county superintendent of education shall, on or before the first day of November of each year, forward to the State Superintendent of Education on blanks to be furnished him by the latter an annual report of the public schools of his county for the preceding year. In the event any county superintendent shall fail to make and forward to the State Superintendent of Education any report required under this chapter within 10 days after the time it should be made, he shall be liable to impeachment, and the resolution of the State Board of Education duly adopted setting forth such failure shall be prima facie evidence of such fact. The books, accounts and vouchers of the county superintendent of education may be examined at any time by the State Superintendent of Education in person or by his duly authorized agent.

(a) The county superintendent of education shall, at such times and in such manner as directed by the county board of education and approved by the State Superintendent of Education, prepare his payroll or payrolls for the payment of teachers, employees, bills and other items authorized by the county board of education. The State Board of Education shall have the power to promulgate rules and regulations governing the time, manner and method of preparing such payrolls, and such rules and regulations shall be binding on all to whom they are made applicable.

(b) The county superintendent of education, unless otherwise directed under the authority of subsection (a) of this section, at the end of each scholastic month following the date fixed for the opening of the schools in the county shall prepare a payroll covering all teachers and employees payable by the scholastic month; and at the end of the calendar month shall prepare a payroll covering all teachers, employees, bills and items authorized by the county board of education payable by the calendar month.

No money shall be paid on any payroll unless the county superintendent of education certifies thereto in writing that the same in every respect is correct and that the amounts contained thereon are due the parties as shown thereby and that the same should be paid and unless the chairman of the county board of education endorses on said payroll an order that the same be paid.

Any person securing his name, or the name of another printed on a ballot as a candidate for, or nomination by a political party as a candidate for the office of county superintendent of education, without first there having been filed with the probate judge, as required by law, the certificate signed by the State Superintendent of Education that the person whose name is printed on the ballot holds a certificate of administration and supervision, and any officer permitting the printing on a ballot of the name of a person as a candidate for, or nomination by a political party as a candidate for the office of county superintendent of education when there has not been filed with the probate judge such certificate shall be subject to a penalty of $250.00, recoverable in the name of the state for the use of any school board first instituting an action therefor. Any resident of the county may institute an action for such recovery for any school board of the county. Before any person shall become an applicant for employment by a county board of education, as county superintendent of education, and before any person shall qualify as a candidate for or for the nomination of a political party as a candidate for the office of county superintendent of education for a county in which such officer is elected by the qualified voters of the county, such person shall file with the probate judge a certificate signed by the State Superintendent of Education that such person holds a certificate of administration and supervision as required by the law prescribing the qualifications of a county superintendent of education. At the grand jury of the county assembled next after making of such affidavits, the record of the same shall be submitted to the grand jury. In any prosecution for perjury under this section the record of the affidavit shall be admissible in evidence.

Any political party may, in a county where the county superintendent is elected by a direct vote of the qualified electors, either nominate a candidate for such office or may certify to the probate judge that said political party desires to leave the election of a county superintendent of education to the county board of education. Whenever any political party certifies that such political party desires to leave the selection of such officer to the county board of education, the probate judge shall cause to be entered on the ballot where the names of such candidates (if nominated) would appear, the following: "For selection by the county board of education." Such proposition shall appear on the ballot before the names of the candidates and be arranged so that the elector may express his choice for such proposition in the same manner as he expresses his choice for a candidate. Every qualified elector may vote for such selection by the county board of education or for any candidate for such office. In the event more votes are cast for selection by the county board of education than for any candidate, then the county board shall select such officer for the ensuing term. No elector shall be disqualified from participating in any party caucus, convention or election because he voted for the proposition or selection by the county board of education even though his political party nominated a candidate for such position.

Whenever any political party holds a primary election for the nomination of candidates in counties where county superintendents are elected by a direct vote of the qualified electors and one or more persons qualify as candidates for nomination by such political party as candidate for county superintendent of education, there shall be entered on the ballot of such primary election with the names of such candidates for county superintendent of education the proposition: "For selection by the county board of education." Such proposition shall appear on the ballot before the names of the candidates and be arranged so that the elector may express his choice for such proposition in the same manner as he expresses his choice for a candidate. If more votes are cast for selection by the county board of education than for any candidate, then the duly constituted authority of such political party holding such primary election shall certify to the probate judge that said political party favors the selection of said county superintendent of education by the county board of education.

When county superintendents are elected by a direct vote of the people, or nominated at a primary election, and the proposition of selection by the county board is also submitted at such election, there must be printed instructions on the ballot of such election substantially as follows: "Vote either for selection by county board of education or for one candidate."

(a) In counties in which the county superintendent of education is elected by popular vote, the successful candidate shall take office on January 1 following the date of election. In the event the successful candidate dies or resigns prior to January 1 following the date of election, a successor shall be elected at a special election held for that purpose set upon proclamation of the Governor. County party committees may call primary elections to be held in accordance with Chapter 7 of Title 17, to determine party candidates at the special election. In the event one candidate at the election does not receive a majority of all votes cast at the election, there shall be held a run-off election three weeks after the date of the first election between the two candidates who received the highest number of votes. The incumbent shall continue to hold office until a successor is elected and qualified.

(b) An elected county superintendent of education holding office on May 27, 1997, shall continue to serve the remainder of his or her term. If an elected county superintendent of education resigns or dies in office, his or her successor shall serve only until January 1 following the election of a successor. This section shall apply to the term of any county superintendent of education elected after May 27, 1997.

Where the qualified electors of a county in which county superintendents of education are elected by a direct vote of the people vote to leave the selection of such officer to the county board of education, the county board of education shall not have authority to appoint a county superintendent of education for a longer term than the ensuing term prescribed by the law relating to the county.