(a) There is established in the county a public corporation for the purposes hereinafter specified, which corporation shall be vested with the powers conferred upon it by this part. The public corporation is at times hereinafter referred to as the authority.
(b) Subject to the conditions and qualifications hereinafter stated, the name of the corporation shall be Civic Center Authority of the Cities and County of ________ County (in the blank space will be inserted the name of the county). The board of directors of the authority may choose some name other than that above specified at any time it elects to do so. If the board of directors chooses any other name there shall be filed for record in the office of the judge of probate of the county a copy of the resolution of the board of directors stating the name adopted by the authority, which resolution shall be followed by a certificate signed by the chair of the board of directors stating the date on which the resolution was adopted and stating that the copy of the resolution preceding the certificate is a true and correct copy of the resolution adopted by the board of directors.
(c) The affairs of the authority shall be managed and controlled by a board of directors consisting of nine members. One of the members shall be the mayor or chief executive officer of the largest municipality in the county; at least two of the additional members shall be resident citizens of the largest municipality in the county; one of the members shall be the president or chair of the governing body of the county; and none of the members shall be a member of the Legislature. The remaining members shall be elected in the manner hereinafter prescribed. If there shall be a branch court house in the county, one of the members of the board shall be a resident of the area served by such branch court house. The chair of the board of directors shall be elected by the board after all members of the board have been elected and qualified.
Each of the seven elected board members shall serve a four-year term of office. A board member who is serving on May 26, 2015, shall continue to serve as a board member for a four-year term commencing from the date his or her current term of office began. At the expiration of the board member's term, the incumbent members of the State Senate from Jefferson County and the incumbent members of the House of Representatives from Jefferson County serving at that time shall separately and alternatively elect a successor to the vacant directorship. The first vacancy to occur after the passage of Act 2015-213 shall be filled by the House of Representatives members with the second vacancy being filled by the Senate members. If a directorship held by an elected director becomes vacant during his or her term, the successor shall be elected by the Senate or House of Representatives members based on members of the body that made the appointment to the seat that is vacant for the remainder of the term of the vacant position.
Seven elected members of the Board of Directors shall hold specific seats on the board designated as seats 1 through 7. The seats for the two directors whose terms expire in 2015 shall be designated as seats 1 and 2. The seats of the three directors whose terms expire in 2016 shall be designated as seats 3, 4, and 5. The seats of the two directors whose terms expire in 2018 shall be designated as seats 6 and 7. As these terms expire and new directors are elected, the members of the House of Representatives shall elect the director designated as seat 1, and the members of the Senate shall elect the director for seat 2, and thereafter the election shall be made on an alternating basis until appointments have been made for all seven elected seats. Thereafter, all succeeding appointments shall continue to be made on an alternating basis with the members of the Senate next electing the director designated as seat 1, the members of the House electing the director for seat 2, and so forth. Seat number 1 shall be designated as the seat to be occupied by a resident of the area served by the branch courthouse. Seats number 2 and number 3 shall be designated as the seats to be occupied by two resident citizens of the largest municipality in the county. No appointment to fill an expiring term may be made sooner than 120 days prior to the start of a new term. All terms of office shall commence on October 1 and last for four years, ending on September 30.
Upon the election of any director by the House of Representatives or the Senate, as the case may be, the chair of local legislative delegation for the respective legislative body shall deliver a written certificate to the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate, as the case may be, advising that the individual has been elected to a designated director's seat. The Clerk of the House or Secretary of the Senate shall maintain the originals of the certificates as official records filed with that office. The chair of the legislative body shall also forward a copy of the filed certificate to the executive director of the authority, who will file a copy of the certificate in the office of the judge of probate of the county in which the authority is located. The certificate shall also be spread upon the official records or minutes of the board of directors of the authority.
(d) The board of directors shall elect a chair of the board who shall serve as chair until his or her term as a member of the board, which he or she is serving at the time of election as chair, expires. The chair shall preside at all meetings of the board of directors and the chair shall have a vote the same as any other member of the board of directors.
(e) No person shall be elected as a member of the board of directors of the authority unless he or she is a qualified elector of the county. Not more than one member of the board of directors elected by the Senate members or House members or by the directors shall hold any public office.
(f) The members of the board of directors shall serve without compensation, except that they shall be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in and about the performance of their duties hereunder.
(g) In the event a vacancy on the board of directors occurs which is to be filled pursuant to Act 2015-213 and if members of the House or Senate as is appropriate fail for any reason to fill the vacancy within 60 days from the date of the occurrence of the vacancy, the remaining members of the board of directors shall elect a member of the board to fill the vacancy.
Last modified: May 3, 2021