§34-3-16. Annual meeting of the State Bar and Board of Commissioners; election of officers and duties thereof.

(a) Annual meeting. There shall be an annual meeting of the lawyers of Alabama, open to all members of the State Bar in good standing, to be held at such place and time as the Board of Commissioners shall designate. At the same place, and immediately following the adjournment of the annual meeting of the State Bar, the Board of Commissioners shall hold its annual meeting.

(b) Officers; their election and succession.

(1) The officers of the Alabama State Bar shall be the president, president-elect, vice-president, and secretary. At the time of nomination and election and during incumbency, the president, president-elect, and vice-president each shall be a member in good standing of the Alabama State Bar.

(2) The office of president shall be filled annually by succession at the end of the annual meeting, at which time the president-elect, who has served as president-elect during the preceding year, shall succeed to the presidency. The president shall not be eligible to serve successive terms.

(3) A president-elect shall be elected annually as hereinafter provided, and shall take office as president-elect at the end of the annual meeting held during the year of such election. Such president-elect shall succeed to the presidency at the end of the annual meeting held during the next succeeding year, at which time the term of the preceding president shall expire. The president-elect shall be elected by the members of the State Bar in good standing, who shall vote by secret ballot delivered or mailed to State Bar headquarters by the date designated by the Board of Commissioners.

(4) To qualify for election as president-elect, a candidate shall file at State Bar headquarters a nominating petition signed by at least 25 members in good standing by the date established by the Board of Commissioners, provided, however, that the deadline for filing nominating petitions shall be at least 90 days prior to the election.

(5) At its annual meeting, the Board of Commissioners shall elect a vice-president, who shall be a current member of the Board of Commissioners. It also shall elect a secretary, who need not be a member of the board, and such other officers of the board and agents as the board may deem appropriate, all of whom shall hold office at the pleasure of the board and shall be subject to removal without cause by the board at any time.

(6) The secretary and president shall be the only paid officers of the board. The secretary shall be paid a salary to be fixed by the board, and the president may be paid an additional allowance to be fixed by the board.

(7) The Board of Commissioners may prescribe rules and regulations for the administration of the elections not in conflict with the provisions of this chapter.

(c) The president, president-elect, and immediate past president, respectively, shall serve ex officio as president, president-elect, and immediate past president, respectively, of the Board of Commissioners, and shall discharge the duties imposed in this chapter on the president, president-elect, and immediate past president, respectively; they shall be reimbursed for their expense as are elected members of the board, and may attend all meetings of the board, including executive sessions thereof; but shall not vote as members of the board, unless they are members by election thereto under the provisions of Section 34-3-41, except that the president, the president-elect, or the vice-president, if presiding, may vote in case of a tie.

(d) The vice-president shall assume office upon his or her election and shall hold office until his or her successor is elected by the Board of Commissioners at the next annual meeting of the Board of Commissioners.

(e) The president shall preside at all meetings of the board and of the State Bar. In the absence or disqualification of the president at any meeting of the board or the State Bar, his or her duties shall be discharged by the vice-president.

(f) In the event a vacancy in the office of the president, the vice-president shall succeed to the presidency, and shall serve out the unexpired term. In the event the vice-president shall succeed to the presidency, the Board of Commissioners shall elect a new vice-president for the unexpired term in the manner provided for herein. In the event of a vacancy in the office of president-elect, a president also shall be elected at the same time and in the same manner as the president-elect.

(g) The president and president-elect of the State Bar who shall hold office on January 1, 1987, shall remain in office until the end of the next annual meeting, at which time the president-elect shall assume the office of president.

(Code 1907, §6239; Code 1923, §6224; Acts 1927, No. 115, p. 79, §1; Code 1940, T. 46, §24; Acts 1951, No. 128, p. 355, §1; Acts 1979, Ex. Sess., No. 79-25, p. 34, §1; Acts 1986, No. 86-544, p. 1076, §1.)