(a) There is created the Alabama Land Bank Authority Board which shall govern the authority to administer and enforce this chapter.
(b) The board shall consist of the following members:
(1) Four residents of the state appointed by the Governor.
(2) Two representatives from nonprofit organizations engaged in low-income housing appointed by the Governor.
(3) The Presiding Officer of the Senate or his or her designee.
(4) The Speaker of the House of Representatives or his or her designee.
(5) The Chair of the Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee or his or her designee.
(6) The Chair of the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee or his or her designee.
(7) The State Revenue Commissioner or his or her designee.
(8) The Superintendent of the State Banking Department or his or her designee.
(9) The Director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs or his or her designee.
(10) The Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce or his or her designee.
(11) The State Finance Director or his or her designee.
(12) The Chair of the Alabama Housing Finance Authority or his or her designee.
(13) The Administrator of the Alabama Credit Union Administration or his or her designee.
(c) The members of the board shall serve four year terms. In appointing the initial members of the board under subdivision (1) of subsection (b), the Governor shall designate two to serve four years, one to serve three years, and one to serve two years.
(d) Members of the board shall receive reimbursement for expenses incurred in the performance of their duties but no other compensation.
(e) The board may employ the necessary personnel for the performance of its functions and fix their compensation.
(f) The board shall elect from its membership a chair, vice chair, and secretary-treasurer. The board shall adopt rules to govern its proceedings. A majority of the membership of the board shall constitute a quorum for all meetings. Approval by a majority of the membership shall be necessary for any action to be taken by the authority. All meetings shall be open to the public, except as otherwise permitted by the Alabama Open Meetings Act, and a written record shall be maintained of all meetings.
(g) The membership of the board shall be inclusive and reflect the racial, gender, geographic, urban/rural, and economic diversity of the state.
(h) The board, when acting in its official capacity, its members, and the authority shall be immune from civil liability against the claims of any individual or other entity of any nature whatsoever arising out of its ownership or administration of properties or related to its decisions or actions, which decisions or actions were made in good faith, without malice, and predicated upon information which was then available to the board.
(i) The authority shall be a public body corporate and politic with the power to accept and issue deeds in its name, including, without limitation, the acceptance of real property in accordance with this chapter, and to institute quiet title actions as provided in Section 24-9-8, and shall have any other powers necessary and incidental to carry out the powers and the purpose granted by this chapter.
(j) In addition to the tax-delinquent property acquired by the authority as provided herein, the authority may acquire, by purchase, donation, or exchange, other publicly owned property from local governments, including that which was acquired years earlier as a result of foreclosure proceedings of that property, or property that has become surplus. The authority may also acquire property through voluntary donations and transfers from private owners and may acquire by purchase or lease on the open market property from a private owner to complete an assemblage of property for redevelopment.
(k) No later than October 1, 2018, the State Revenue Commissioner or his or her designee shall convene the first meeting of the authority.
Last modified: May 3, 2021