The official bond of every state official, agent or employee, except the bond of the Secretary of State, must be filed in the office of the Secretary of State and recorded in a fair hand or by printing the same or by the use of a typewriter or other writing or printing or photostatic machine, word for word in a well-bound book or books and indexed in alphabetical order according to the title of the office, and all of said bonds shall remain on file and in the custody of the Secretary of State, except the bond of the Secretary of State, which shall be filed, recorded and remain in the custody of the Auditor.

In all cases, official bonds must be filed in the proper office within 40 days after the declaration of election or after the appointment to office, except bonds of tax assessors and tax collectors which shall be filed on or before September 1 next after their election or appointment.

Every official bond of a county or municipal officer, agent or employee required by law to be filed with any public officer must be by such officer recorded word for word in a well-bound book and properly indexed.

The Governor, in his discretion, may and, with the approval of the Governor, the governing body or the director or head of any department, institution, commission, bureau or agency may, in their discretion, require a bond in such amount as they may deem necessary of any agent or employee in said department, institution, commission, bureau, board or agency. Said bond shall be payable to the State of Alabama conditioned as other official bonds. The premium on said bonds shall be payable out of the funds of said department, institution, commission, bureau, board or agency. A copy or duplicate of the bond of every agent or employee required to give bond shall be filed in the office of the department, institution, commission, bureau, board or agency requiring same. The original of all such bonds shall be filed and recorded in the office of the Secretary of State as other official bonds are recorded.

The bond of each public officer required by law to give bond must, unless it is otherwise provided, be made payable to the State of Alabama, with such sureties as the approving officer is satisfied have the qualifications required by law, with condition, in all cases in which a different condition is not prescribed, faithfully to discharge the duties of such office during the time he continues therein or discharges any of the duties thereof.

The approval of all official bonds shall be in writing, endorsed on the bonds, and shall show the day and year on which the same were approved and be signed by the approving officer.

The bond of any public officer which is not in the penalty, payable and conditioned and has not sureties having the qualifications required by law must not be approved, and the officer approving a bond not conforming to the law in any or all of these respects shall be guilty of a neglect of duty and shall subject himself and his sureties to a civil action by any person injured and a recovery to the extent of such injury.

No officer, with whom any official bond is required to be filed, shall allow the same to be filed in his office, unless the approval of the proper officer appears thereon, endorsed according to the provisions of this article.

Every officer, in whose office the official bond of any public officer is filed, must endorse on such bond the day and year when the same was filed and sign his name to such endorsement.

Any officer who fails to endorse the date of the filing of an official bond as required by law must, on conviction, be fined not less than $50.00.

All personal sureties on official bonds must be residents of the state, and the aggregate value of their property, real and personal, not exempt from debts and other liabilities and in excess of their debts and liabilities must equal the penalty of the bond, and such property must be within the state. If the duties of the office of the principal are limited to a single county, the sureties must be residents of that county, and their property must be therein situated.

No officer of the United States required to give an official bond; no municipal officer required to give an official bond and no officer, state or county, required to give an official bond must be deemed a sufficient surety on any bond taken under this article.

A practicing attorney-at-law must not be deemed a sufficient surety on the official bond of the judge of probate or of the clerk or register of any court of record or of any other officer of a court of record or of the sheriff or deputy sheriff or the coroner, or of any constable, general or special.

A surety on an official bond or on a bond intended as an official bond cannot avoid liability thereon on the ground that he signed or delivered it on condition that it should not be delivered to the proper officer or should not become perfect unless it was executed by some other person who does not execute it.

The provisions of this section shall apply to bonds of state, county, municipal and public corporate officers; to bonds of executors, administrators, guardians, receivers, assignees, and other trustees, and to all bonds and undertakings executed in the commencement or progress of any suit or judicial proceeding, civil or criminal.

If any officer required by law to give bond fails to file the same within the time fixed by law, he vacates his office. In such case, it is the duty of the officer in whose office such bond is required to be filed at once to certify such failure to the appointing power, and the vacancy must be filled as in other cases.

If any public officer required by law to give bond fails to file the same in the proper office within the time prescribed, notice of such failure must be given by the officer in whose office such bond is required to be filed, by or during the first two days of the session of the circuit court held in the county in which the officer so failing resides next after such failure to the district attorney of the circuit to which such county belongs.

Any officer who omits to give notice of failure by a public officer to file his official bond as required by law must, on conviction, be fined not less than $100.00.

(a) Every official bond is obligatory on the principal and sureties thereon for:

(1) Every breach of the condition during the time the officer continues in office or discharges any of the duties thereof;

(2) The faithful discharge of any duties which may be required of such officer by any law passed subsequently to the execution of such bond, although no such condition is expressed therein; and

(3) The use and benefit of every person who is injured, as well by any wrongful act committed under color of his office as by his failure to perform or the improper or neglectful performance of those duties imposed by law.

(b) The words, @for the use and benefit of every person injured,@ as used in subsection (a) of this section, shall include all person having a direct and proximate interest in the official act or omission and all persons connected with such official act or omission, by estate or interest.

(a) The bonds of all officers required to give bond shall be conditioned in the following form:

@Whereas the above bound A. B. was duly elected (or appointed) to the office of _____ on the _____ day of _____, for the term of _____ years from the _____ day of _____; therefore, if he shall faithfully perform and discharge all the duties of said office during his continuance therein, then the above obligation to be void.@

(b) A failure to observe the form prescribed in subsection (a) of this section shall not vitiate any official bond. All official bonds shall be valid and binding in whatever form they may be taken, except so far as they may be conditioned for the performance of acts in violation of the laws or policy of the state, whether in the proper penalty or without any penalty, whether correct or incorrect in their recitals as to the term of office or otherwise, whether properly payable, whether approved by the proper officer or not approved by any or whether irregular in any other respect. Such a bond, if delivered as the official bond of the officer and serving as such, shall be obligatory on everyone who subscribed it for the purpose of making the official bond of such officer to the full penalty or, if it has no penalty, to the full penalty of the bond which might have been required.

Whenever any officer required by law to give an official bond acts under a bond which is not in the penalty, payable and conditioned or without sureties of the requisite qualification and sufficiency as prescribed by law, such bond is valid and binding on the obligors therein and stands in the place of the official bond, subject, on its condition being broken, to all the remedies which the person aggrieved might have maintained on the official bond of such officer, executed, approved and filed according to law.

It shall be lawful to show by parol that any bond or recognizance was taken by an officer in the discharge of his duty, although such fact ought to appear upon the bond or recognizance or in writing or of record and does not so appear; and, if an officer takes a recognizance in a case where he should have taken a bond, it shall bind the parties in the same manner as if it had been authorized.

Any public officer required by law to give bond who performs any official act before his bond is approved and filed as required by law must, on conviction, be fined not less than $500.00.

Such bonds are not discharged by a single recovery, but proceedings may, from time to time, be instituted thereon until the whole penalty is exhausted.

When any state or county official shall have collected or paid out any money as fees, salary or compensation for official services rendered under any law of Alabama, general or special, which law, subsequent to such collection or paying out, shall be declared by the Supreme Court of Alabama to be unconstitutional or void or illegal, such officer shall not be liable either individually or on his official bond in any civil action brought for the recovery of such money so collected or paid out, nor shall the person to whom the same shall have been paid be liable therefor.

All the provisions of this article shall apply to the official bonds of all public officers of this state whose office may be established hereafter, unless the contrary is expressly provided.

It shall be the duty of the Governor to require additional bonds of the Director of Finance and Treasurer or any other officer whose bond is required to be approved by the Governor whenever in his opinion the interest of the state demands.

The form, procedure, etc., for the additional bonds under Section 36-5-40 shall be as provided in Sections 11-2-23 through 11-2-29.

Official bonds required of all officers, agents and employees of the State of Alabama and its boards, agencies and commissions or any additional bond that may be required must be made by a surety company or surety companies or guaranty company or guaranty companies authorized by the laws of this state to make such bonds and qualified to do business in this state.

The premiums on bonds required by this code of officers, agents and employees of the state and its boards, agencies and commissions shall not exceed the rate established for the same or comparable bonds by a nationally recognized rating bureau. But the minimum charge for the premium on any such bonds may be $5.00.

When any official bond or bonds required by this code of officers, agents and employees of the state and its boards, agencies and commissions shall be secured or insured by a guaranty or surety company or companies, the premiums shall be paid out of the funds of the department, institution, commission, bureau or agency for the officers or employees of the same.

If any state office or position for which a bond is required by this code should be abolished, terminated or consolidated with another office or position, then the bond provided for in this code shall be cancelled on those employees who by reason of the termination of their positions will not be continued in the service of the state.

Any person who is surety upon the official bond of any state officer or employee may discharge himself of such suretyship whenever he is in danger of being made liable on such bond and has no adequate remedy against his principal in consequence of his inability to discharge such liability, upon his making an application in writing setting forth such facts.

This application must be addressed to the official or to one of the officials required to approve such bond and must be sworn to.

The officer to whom such application is addressed must require the principal named in such application to appear before him on and at a certain day and place and give a new bond, which requisition must be in writing, signed by the officer making the same and must be personally served on such principal before the day named therein.

On the execution of the additional bond provided for in this division, the same must be approved and filed with the application and requisition with the first official bond.

Every such additional bond approved and filed as provided in this division is binding on the obligors from the time of its approval and subjects them to the same liabilities, proceedings and remedies as are provided in relation to the first official bond of such officer or employee.

On the execution, approval and filing of such additional bond, such applicant shall be discharged as surety on the bond on which such application was made from all liability for any breach of the condition therein contained accruing subsequently to the filing of such additional bond.

The discharge provided for in Section 36-5-65 does not affect the previous liability of any of the obligors, but in case of the discharge of any one or more obligors under such section, the same shall operate as a discharge of all other obligors.

Whenever the sureties on either bond have made any payments thereon on account of the principal obligor therein, they are entitled to the same remedies and recoveries against the sureties in the remaining bonds as are provided by Section 11-2-29.

If such requisition is personally served and the officer or employee named therein fails to give an additional bond within 15 days after the day specified in such requisition, he vacates his office, and the officer making such requisition must at once certify the same to the appointing power, who must fill the vacancy.