(a) The Governor, the Lieutenant Governor or his or her designee, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate or his or her designee, the Speaker of the House of Representatives or his or her designee, the Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Director of Finance of the state may become a corporation, with the powers and authorities hereinafter provided, by proceeding according to the provisions of this chapter. To become a corporation, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor or his or her designee, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate or his or her designee, the Speaker of the House of Representatives or his or her designee, the Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Director of Finance shall present to the Secretary of State of Alabama an application signed by them which shall set forth: (1) The name, official designation and official residence of each of the applicants, together with a certified copy of the commission evidencing each applicant’s right to office. (2) The date on which each applicant was inducted into office and the term of office of each of the applicants. (3) The name of the proposed corporation created in this section shall be the Alabama Public Historical Sites and Parks Improvement Corporation. (4) The location of the principal office of the proposed corporation, which shall be Montgomery, Alabama. (5) Any other matter relating to the incorporation which the applicants may choose to insert and which is not inconsistent with this chapter or the laws of the State of Alabama. The application shall be subscribed and sworn to by each of the applicants before an officer authorized by the laws of the State of Alabama to take acknowledgments to deeds. The Secretary of State shall examine the application and, if he finds that it substantially complies with the requirements of this section, he shall receive and file it and record it in an appropriate book of records in his office. (b) When the application has been made, filed and recorded, as herein provided, the applicants shall constitute a public corporation under the name proposed in the application and the Secretary of State shall make and issue to the applicants a certificate of incorporation pursuant to this chapter, under the Great Seal of the State, and shall record the same with the application. There shall be no fees paid to the Secretary of State for any work in connection with the incorporation or dissolution of the corporation so organized (which, for convenience, is herein referred to as “the corporation”). (c) The applicants named in the application and their respective successors in office shall constitute the members of the corporation. The Governor shall be the president of the corporation, the Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources shall be its vice-president, and the Director of Finance shall be the secretary of the corporation. The State Treasurer shall be the treasurer of the corporation and shall act as custodian of its funds, but shall not be a member of the corporation. The members of the corporation shall constitute all the members of the board of directors of the corporation, and any three members of the said board of directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. All members of the board shall be notified of any meeting of the board of directors. Should any of said officials of the state die or should his term of office as Governor, Lieutenant Governor, President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Director of Finance, State Treasurer or designees, as the case may be, expire or should he resign therefrom, his successor in office shall take his place as a member, officer and director of the corporation, as the case may be. No member, officer or director of the corporation shall draw any salary, in addition to that now authorized by law, for any service he may render or any duty he may perform in connection with the corporation. All proceedings had and done by the board of directors shall be reduced to writing by the secretary of the corporation and recorded in a substantially bound book. Copies of such proceedings, when certified by the secretary of the corporation under the seal of the corporation, shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of the matters and things therein certified.
