(a) The chief examiner shall be the executive and administrative head of the department and shall have the power and duty to do all of the following subject to review and oversight by the Legislative Committee on Public Accounts:

(1) Exercise general supervision of and make regulations for the governance of the department.

(2) Prescribe uniform rules pertaining to investigations, examinations, audits, and departmental hearings.

(3) Supervise the fiscal affairs and responsibilities of the department.

(4) Appoint and remove the staff, officers, and employees of the department, subject to the Merit System Act and the rules issued pursuant thereto.

(5) Keep an accurate and complete record of all proceedings of the department; record and file all bonds, reports, and other documents; and assume responsibility for the custody and preservation of all papers and documents of the department.

(6) Make recommendations and an annual report to the Governor and to the Legislative Committee on Public Accounts concerning the condition, operation, functioning, and findings of the department.

(7) Invoke any legal, equitable, or special remedy for the enforcement of orders or this chapter.

(8) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, exercise any other power necessary to expedite the making of thorough and accurate audits of the accounts of all individuals or entities receiving or disbursing public funds.

(9) Examine and audit the books, accounts, and records of all state and county offices, officers, bureaus, authorities, boards, commissions, corporations, departments, and agencies.

(10) a. Prepare, in consultation with the Association of County Commissions of Alabama, except with respect to county boards of education, such bookkeeping, accounting, and reporting systems, procedures, records, and forms as may be necessary to install a uniform system of accounting and reporting in the various county offices. This paragraph does not authorize the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts to prescribe specific accounting software to be utilized in various county offices.

b. Prepare such bookkeeping, accounting, and reporting systems, procedures, records, and forms as may be necessary to install a uniform system of accounting and reporting in the various state offices.

(11) Report to the Legislative Committee on Public Accounts, the Governor, and the Contract Review Permanent Legislative Oversight Committee every expenditure or contract found to have been made in violation of law.

(12) Prepare, for use by the county boards of education, bookkeeping, accounting, and reporting systems, procedures, records, and forms necessary for the installation of a uniform system of accounting and reporting by the several county boards of education; install the bookkeeping, accounting, and reporting systems for the county boards of education; and exercise and maintain continuing supervision thereof.

(13) Prepare and furnish to the chairs of the county commissions of the several counties of the state a fiscal statement of each county, as of the end of each fiscal year, the statement showing receipts, disbursements, outstanding indebtedness, and securities owned of and by each of the several counties.

(b) All powers and duties vested in the chief examiner may be delegated to his or her appointed assistants, staff, deputies, and employees, but the chief examiner shall be responsible for their actions.