Any 25 residents of a county may file a petition with the county commission setting forth that there is a need for an authority to function in the county. Upon the filing of such a petition, the county commission shall give notice of the time, place, and purpose of a public hearing at which the county commission will determine the need for an authority in the county. Such notice by the county commission shall be given at the county's expense by publishing a notice, at least 10 days preceding the day on which the hearing is to be held, in a newspaper having a general circulation in the county or, if there be no such newspaper, by posting such a notice in at least three public places within the county at least 10 days preceding the day on which the hearing is to be held. Upon the date fixed for said hearing, held upon notice as provided in this section, an opportunity to be heard shall be granted to all residents and taxpayers of the county, and to all other interested persons. After such a hearing, the county commission shall determine whether unsanitary or unsafe inhabited dwelling accommodations exist in the county or whether there is a lack of safe or sanitary dwelling accommodations in such county available for the inhabitants thereof. In determining whether dwelling accommodations are unsafe or unsanitary, the county commission shall take into consideration the following: The physical condition and age of the buildings; the degree of overcrowding; the percentage of land coverage; the light and air available to the inhabitants of such dwelling accommodations; the size and arrangement of the rooms; the sanitary facilities; and the extent to which conditions exist in such buildings which endanger life or property by fire or other causes. If it shall determine that either or both of the above enumerated conditions exist, the county commission shall adopt a resolution so finding, which need not go into any detail other than the mere finding. Such resolution may be adopted at the meeting at which it is introduced by a vote of a majority of the members of the county commission present at such meeting. Such resolution shall take effect immediately and shall not be laid over or published or posted. After the county commission has adopted such resolution, it shall thereupon appoint, as provided in this article, five housing commissioners to act as an authority. Said county housing commission shall be a public body and a body corporate and politic upon the completion of the following proceedings: The housing commissioners shall present to the Secretary of the State of Alabama, an application signed by them, which shall set forth, without any detail other than the mere recital, that a notice has been given and public hearing has been held as aforesaid, that the county commission made the aforesaid determination after such hearing and that the county commission has appointed them as housing commissioners of the authority; the name and official residence of each of the housing commissioners, together with a certified copy of the appointment evidencing their right to office, the date and place of their induction into and taking of the oath of office and their desire that the housing authority become a public body and a body corporate and politic under this article; the term of office of each of the housing commissioners and the place where, if any, the official appointment of each of said members is kept of record; the name which is proposed for the corporation; the location of the principal office of the proposed corporation; and any other matter relating to the incorporation which the housing commissioners might choose to insert not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the State of Alabama. The application shall be subscribed and sworn to by each of said housing commissioners before an officer authorized by the laws of the State of Alabama to take and certify oaths, who shall certify upon the application that he personally knows the housing commissioners and knows them to be the officers as asserted in the application, and that each subscribed and swore thereto in the officer's presence. The Secretary of State shall examine the application and if he finds that the name proposed for the corporation is not identical with that of a person or of any other corporation of the state or so nearly similar as to lead to confusion and uncertainty, he shall receive and file it and shall record it in an appropriate book of record in his office. When the application has been made, filed, and recorded, as provided in this section, the authority shall constitute a public body and a body corporate and politic under the name proposed in the application. The Secretary of State shall make and issue to the said housing commissioners, a certificate of incorporation pursuant to this article, under the seal of the state, and shall record the same with the application. The boundaries of such authority shall include all of said county, except that portion which lies within the territorial boundaries of any city or incorporated town. If the county commission, after a hearing as provided in this section, shall determine that neither of the above enumerated conditions exist, it shall adopt a resolution denying the petition. After three months shall have expired from the date of the denial of any such petition, subsequent petitions may be filed as provided in this section and new hearings and determinations made thereon. In any civil action or proceeding involving the validity or enforcement of, or relating to any contract of the authority, the authority shall be conclusively deemed to have been established in accordance with the provisions of this article upon proof of the issuance of the aforesaid certificate by the Secretary of State. A copy of such certificate, duly certified by the Secretary of State, shall be admissible in evidence in any such civil action or proceeding, and shall be conclusive proof of the filing and contents thereof. Nothing contained in this article shall be construed as affecting the boundaries previously established for any housing authority of a city or town, nor shall this article affect any provisions of law defining the boundaries of any housing authority of a city or town.
Last modified: May 3, 2021