§29-7-8. Compilation of Code of Alabama by Code Commissioner; altering sense, etc. prohibited; specified editorial work; adoption by statute of supplement and replacement volumes as part of entire code; no change in existing law.

(a) The Code Commissioner for the Code of Alabama 1975, in compiling the contents of the code and any cumulative supplement and replacement volume to the code, may not alter the sense, meaning, or effect of any act. The Code Commissioner, in compiling the contents of the code and any supplement and replacement volume to the code, may perform all of the following editorial functions:

(1) Change the wording of descriptive headings and catchlines.

(2) Change hierarchy units as specified in an act to appropriate code hierarchy.

(3) Change reference numbers to conform with renumbered hierarchy units, or make corrections in reference numbers if the correction can be made without substantive change in the law.

(4) Substitute the proper hierarchy unit for the terms "this act," "the preceding section," and the like.

(5) Remove language that is surplusage, including "of the Code of Alabama 1975," "of this section," and the like when such language follows a designated hierarchy unit.

(6) Substitute "this title," "this chapter," or other hierarchy designation in place of reference to the specific unit, if the reference is within that unit.

(7) Translate dates to the appropriate month, day, and year.

(8) Change words when directed by law.

(9) Substitute the name of any agency, officer, or instrumentality of the state or of a political subdivision whose name is changed by law or to which powers, duties, and responsibilities have been transferred by law, for the name which the agency, officer, or instrumentality previously used or of the agency which was previously vested with the same powers and charged with the same duties and responsibilities.

(10) Divide, consolidate, and rearrange hierarchy units and parts of hierarchy units.

(11) If any section or part of a section of the Code of Alabama 1975 is amended by more than one act at the same session of the Legislature, incorporate into one or more code sections the section as amended or altered by the several acts, if each of the amendments, changes, or alterations are not in substantive conflict and can be given effect and incorporated in the code section or code sections in a manner which will make the code section or code sections intelligible.

(12) Resolve nonsubstantive conflicts between multiple acts.

(13) Change capitalization, spelling, and punctuation for the purpose of uniformity and consistency.

(14) Correct manifest grammatical, clerical, and typographical errors, including, but not limited to, by means of the addition or deletion of language.

(b)(1) Upon the adoption and incorporation of the annual cumulative supplement and each replacement volume into the Code of Alabama by statute, that supplement or replacement volume shall be considered as part of the entire Code of Alabama and shall be considered for statutory construction purposes in the same manner as all other portions of the code.

(2) This adoption and incorporation by statute shall constitute a continuous systematic codification of the entire Code of Alabama 1975 for purposes of Section 85 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901. Such a statute is a law that adopts a code for the purposes of Section 45 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901.

(c) The Legislature finds and declares that this section is declaratory of, and does not constitute a change in, the law existing since the amendment of Section 29-7-6 by Act 93-618 of the 1993 Regular Session designating the Director of the Legislative Reference Service as the Code Commissioner.

(Acts 1996, No. 96-555, p. 819, §§1, 2.)