(a) This section shall apply only in Choctaw County.
(b) The purpose of this section is to conserve revenue and promote the public convenience in the county by consolidating the office of tax assessor and the office of tax collector into one county office designated as the office of county revenue commissioner.
(c) At the expiration of the next term of office of the tax assessor and the office of the tax collector of the county following the effective date of this section, or if a vacancy occurs in either office, then immediately upon the occurrence of the vacancy, the office of county revenue commissioner shall be established. If the office of county revenue commissioner is established upon the occurrence of a vacancy in either the office of tax assessor or the office of tax collector, the tax assessor or the tax collector, as the case may be, remaining in office shall be the county revenue commissioner for the remainder of the term of office for which he or she was elected. The county revenue commissioner shall be elected at the general election and every six years thereafter and shall serve for a term of office of six years.
(d) The county revenue commissioner shall perform all acts, duties, and functions required by law to be performed by the tax assessor and the tax collector of the county. The official acts of the employees of the county revenue commissioner shall have the same force and legal effect as if performed by the county revenue commissioner.
(e) Before entering upon the duties of office, the county revenue commissioner shall take the oath of office prescribed by Section 279 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, and execute a bond in a sum fixed by the county commission secured by a bonding company authorized to do business in Alabama. The bond shall be conditioned as other official bonds are conditioned and shall be approved by and filed with the judge of probate. The cost of the bond shall be paid out of the general fund of the county on a warrant of the county commission and shall be a preferred claim against the county.
(f) The county revenue commissioner shall receive a salary of not less than the minimum salary provided by Section 40-6A-2, payable in the manner prescribed by that section. The exact amount of the salary of the county revenue commissioner shall be set by resolution of the county commission prior to the county revenue commissioner taking office.
(g) The office of the tax assessor and the office of tax collector shall be abolished effective on the last day of the term to which they are elected, or on an earlier date as provided in this section if a vacancy occurs in either the office of tax assessor or tax collector.
(h) If either the office of tax assessor or the office of tax collector becomes vacant before the expiration of the term of office and before the November 1996 general election, the remaining officer shall serve in an acting capacity for the vacant office without additional compensation until the remaining provisions of this section become operative or have no further effect. If subsections (a) to (g), inclusive, become operative, the remaining officer shall be the county revenue commissioner for the remainder of the term for which he or she was elected.