§45-4-130. Appointment; powers and duties; bond.

(a) The Bibb County Commission, or any succeeding county governing body performing the functions of the county governing body in the county, shall employ a county engineer, who shall be a thoroughly qualified and competent civil engineer, possessing all of the qualifications as specified for county engineers under the general laws of the State of Alabama. The engineer shall devote his or her entire time and attention to the maintenance and construction of the Bibb County public roads, highways, bridges, and ferries.

(b) The county engineer shall be appointed by the county commission from a nomination made by the State Director of Transportation. If the nomination is not acceptable to the county commission, the State Director of Transportation shall be requested to make additional nominations. Should the State Director of Transportation refuse, or fail to make nominations, the county commission may fill the position of county engineer with any person who has the qualifications herein set out.

(c) It shall be the duty of the county engineer:

(1) To employ, supervise, and direct all such assistants as are necessary properly to maintain and construct the public roads, highways, bridges, and ferries of Bibb County, and he or she shall have authority to prescribe their duties, and to discharge employees for cause, or when not needed;

(2) To perform such engineering and surveying service as may be required, and to prepare and maintain the necessary maps and records;

(3) To maintain the necessary accounting records to reflect the cost of the county highway system;

(4) To build, or construct new roads, or change old roads, but only when ordered to do so by proper order or the county commission; and

(5) It shall be his or her further duty, insofar as is feasible to construct and maintain all county roads on the basis of the county as a unit, without regard to any district or beat lines.

(d) The county engineer is hereby designated as the person authorized to make written requisition upon the duly designated purchasing agency, for all articles, materials, supplies, and equipment necessary for the maintenance and construction of roads, bridges, and ferries in Bibb County.

(e) It shall be the duty of the county commission to fix, from time to time in accordance with prevailing economic conditions, the various scales of wages or salaries to be paid for labor necessary in the maintenance and construction of roads, bridges, and ferries, and the wage or salary scale shall not be exceeded by the engineer in the employment of labor and assistants.

(f) The county commission shall fix the amount of the salary of the county engineer, payable in equal monthly installments from the road and highway funds of Bibb County.

(g) Before entering upon his or her duties, the county engineer shall make and enter into a surety bond in the amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000) payable to Bibb County, conditioned for the faithful discharge and performance of his of her duties as such engineer, and for the faithful accounting of all monies or property of the county, which may come into his or her possession or custody. The bond shall be executed by a surety company authorized and qualified to do business in Alabama, and be approved by the county commission. The premiums thereon shall be paid by the county.

(h) The county engineer shall report on a day-to-day basis to the chairman of the county commission and shall report regularly to the county commission as a whole.

(i) The county commission shall furnish the county engineer with an office at the courthouse, or elsewhere within a three-mile radius of the courthouse, and all necessary office supplies, and shall furnish the county engineer with necessary transportation to perform his or her duties under this section.

(j) The county engineer shall be the custodian of all road tools, machinery, supplies, and equipment of Bibb County, and he or she shall be accountable for the same, at all times. The county commission shall furnish the necessary storage facilities in which to keep the tools, machinery, supplies, and equipment, and the county engineer shall keep on file in his or her office, at all times, an up-to-date inventory, containing a list of all tools, machinery, equipment, and supplies belonging to Bibb County.

(k) The county engineer shall make written requisition to the chairman of the county commission for all materials, machinery, equipment, and necessary supplies needed for the construction, maintenance, or repair of the public roads, bridges, and ferries of Bibb County. The requisitions shall be filed and presented by the chairman of the county commission at its next meeting for the approval of the board. Provided, however, that the chairman shall have full power and authority to make purchases without first obtaining the approval of the whole board if the delay caused by the hereinabove procedure might, in his or her judgment, cause an unnecessary and harmful interruption in the operation of the county road system.

(l) It shall be the further duty of the county engineer to inspect all materials, machinery, equipment, and supplies purchased by Bibb County for use on public roads, bridges, and ferries, when the same is delivered, and the same shall not be accepted and paid for without its first having been approved by him or her.

(m) In the event an emergency should arise in which it would be impossible for the county commission to employ an engineer, as hereinabove provided for, then, in that event, the county commission shall employ a competent road supervisor who need not be an engineer, but when so employed, he or she shall have all the duties and authority of the engineer, and be subject to the provisions of this section; but an emergency shall not exist so long as the State Director of Transportation can nominate an engineer who will accept employment by the board under the terms of this section, it being the intention of this section to provide that, when county roads are to be maintained or constructed in the county, the supervision thereof shall be either under a county engineer, as hereinabove provided for, or, by a road supervisor who is not a member of the county commission.

(n) The county commission is prohibited from authorizing or performing any work on private property with the exception of work performed on church, school, or cemetery property. Any violation of the provisions of this section shall be punishable by a civil fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500).

(Act 91-461, p. 833, §§1-14; Act 2003-528, 2nd Sp. Sess., p. 1563, §1.)