§11-43A-18. Appointment of city manager; temporary acting city manager; removal; dealings with administrative service.

The council, by a majority vote of the whole qualified membership of the council, shall appoint a city manager, who shall be an officer of the city, and shall have the powers to perform the duties in this article provided. No councilman shall receive such appointment during the term for which the council member shall have been elected nor within one year after expiration of the term. Any civil service act applicable to the municipality shall not apply to the appointment or the removal of the city manager.

A temporary acting city manager may be designated by the council to serve for not more than four months in these events, but only in these events: (1) When the first council takes office after adoption of this article or (2) following the removal of any permanent city manager.

Such temporary acting city manager shall perform the duties and assume the obligations of the office of city manager and may be removed by the council at any time. If the council shall permit the temporary acting manager to serve for longer than four months, he or she shall become the permanent city manager.

Any person appointed as acting city manager or as city manager need not be a resident of the city nor a resident of the State of Alabama at the time of appointment.

The council shall appoint the city manager for an indefinite term, but the council may remove the manager at any time by a majority vote of the whole qualified membership of the council. However, in any Class 6 city in which the governing body has elected to have a nine-member council, as authorized in Section 11-43A-8, any such removal shall be subject to any agreements contained in a contract between the council and the city manager. In any Class 7 city in which the governing body is organized as provided in Section 11-43A-3.3, removal of the city manager shall be subject to the contract between the governing body and the city manager.

Neither the council nor any of its members shall direct or request the appointment of any person to, or removal from, office by the city manager, or in any manner take part in the appointment or removal of officers and employees in the administrative service to the city. Except for the purpose of inquiry, the mayor and the members of the council shall deal with the administrative service only through the city manager and neither the mayor nor any member of the council shall give orders to any subordinates of the city manager, either publicly or privately. The mayor or any member of the council violating the provisions of this section or voting for a resolution or ordinance in violation of this section shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor. Upon conviction of a second violation of this section, the person so convicted shall forfeit his or her office.

(Acts 1982, No. 82-517, p. 851, §18; Acts 1983, No. 83-621, p. 964, §1; Act 2010-544, p. 951, §2.)