§17-3-2. Qualifications and appointment of registrars; chair.

(a) Registration shall be conducted in each county by a board of three reputable and suitable persons to be appointed, unless otherwise provided by law, by the Governor, Auditor, and Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, or by a majority of them acting as a state board of appointment. The registrars shall be qualified electors, residents of the county, shall have a high school diploma or equivalent, and possess the minimum computer and map reading skills necessary to function in the office. The Secretary of State shall prescribe guidelines to assist the state board of appointment in determining the qualifications of registrars. The registrars shall not hold an elective office during their term. One of the members shall be designated by the state board of appointment as chair of the board of registrars for each county.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the Legislature may provide by local law for the appointment of additional members to the board of registrars for a county that has two courthouses.

(c) The provisions of this section shall not apply in any county having a population of not less than 600,000 inhabitants according to the 1970 or any succeeding federal decennial census, and any currently effective local law or general law of local application providing for the appointment of any member of the board of registrars in the county shall remain in full force and effect and shall not be repealed by operation of this chapter.

(Code 1896, §1561; Code 1907, §300; Acts 1920, No. 78, p. 124; Code 1923, §370; Acts 1932, Ex. Sess., No. 157, p. 177; Code 1940, T. 17, §21; Code 1975, §17-4-40; Acts 1978, No. 584, p. 667, §6; Acts 1992, No. 92-223, p. 551, §1; Act 2003-313, p. 733, §2; §17-4-150; amended and renumbered by Act 2006-570, p. 1331, §7.)