Section 11-3-5 Awarding of Contracts, Etc., with Related Family and Business Interests; Employment of Family Members.

(a) Except where a contract for goods or services is competitively bid regardless of whether bidding is required under Alabama’s competitive bid law, no member of any county commission and no business with which any county commissioner is associated shall be a party to any contract with the county commission on which he or she serves. Except where a contract for goods or services is competitively bid regardless of whether bidding is required under Alabama’s competitive bid law, no county commission shall award any contract to a family member of a county commissioner. Under no circumstances shall a county commissioner participate in the bid preparation or review of a bid received from the county commissioner, a business with which he or she is associated, or a family member of the county commissioner and a county commissioner shall not deliberate or vote on acceptance of a bid submitted by the county commissioner, a business with which he or she is associated, or a family member of the county commissioner. (b) No county commissioner shall employ a family member to do any work for the county; provided, however, the family member of a county commissioner may be employed by the county if the family member is hired pursuant to a county personnel policy that does not require a vote of the county commission or if the county commissioner does not participate in the hiring process through recommendation, deliberation, vote, or otherwise. (c) Any county commissioner in violation of this section shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. (d) In compliance with Section 36-25-11, any contract executed with a member of the county commission or with a business with which a county commissioner is associated shall be filed with the Ethics Commission within 10 days after the contract has been executed. Any contract executed in violation of this section shall be void by operation of law and any person employed by the county in violation of this section shall forfeit his or her employment by operation of law. For the purposes of this section, the definition of family member shall be the same as the definition in subdivision (15) of Section 36-25-1 for the family member of a public official.