(a) The board shall appoint, prescribe the duties of, and fix the compensation of an administrator. The board may dismiss an administrator at its discretion. The board shall adopt a seal, which shall be in the care and custody of the administrator. The board, subject to the Merit System, may employ and prescribe the duties of assistants and inspectors necessary to carry out this article. The board, without regard to the Merit System Act, may engage and employ consultants and technical advisors considered necessary in carrying out its responsibilities.

(b) The administrator and inspectors are constituted peace officers of the State of Alabama and are clothed with the powers of peace officers and deputy sheriffs, and may exercise such powers anywhere within the state. They may issue a warning ticket or a uniform nontraffic citation to or arrest violators of Sections 40-17-160 to 40-17-166, inclusive, and any state or federal law or regulation adopted by the board relating to the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas and carry such violators before the district court in the county in which the violation is committed.

(c) All fees and penalties collected under this article or otherwise inuring to the credit of the board shall be deposited in the State Treasury in a fund designated the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Board Fund, which is established by this subsection. All expenditures from the fund shall be subject to the terms, conditions, provisions, and limitations of Title 41, Chapter 4, Article 4.

(d) All balances in the fund in excess of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) at the end of each fiscal year shall be transferred to the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Research and Education Fund established in the State Treasury. The monies in the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Research and Education Fund shall be paid out only by warrant of the Comptroller upon the Treasurer, upon itemized vouchers, approved by the administrator; provided, that no funds shall be withdrawn or expended except as budgeted and allotted according to the provisions of Sections 41-4-80 through 41-4-96 and Sections 41-19-1 through 41-19-12, and only in amounts as stipulated in the general appropriation or other appropriation bills each new fiscal year for research, development, and training and the implementation of marketing, advertising, and information programs relating to LP-gas. Any other appropriations, grants, or other sources of funding made available for the purpose of LP-gas research and education shall be deposited in the LP-Gas Research and Education Fund.