Section 48. There is hereby established a county personnel board, in this and the eight following sections called the board, consisting of three county commissioners, one to be elected by and from the county commissioners of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties; one to be elected by and from the county commissioners of Essex, Middlesex and Worcester counties; and one to be elected by and from the county commissioners of Barnstable, Bristol, Norfolk and Plymouth counties, provided that in the election of such member from the last named counties, the chairman of the county commissioners of each of the counties of Nantucket and Dukes County shall be entitled to one vote. The commissioner first elected from the county commissioners of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties shall serve for a term of one year, the commissioner first elected from the county commissioners of Essex, Middlesex and Worcester counties shall serve for a term of two years, and the commissioner first elected from the county commissioners of Barnstable, Bristol, Norfolk and Plymouth counties shall serve for a term of three years. The members first elected as aforesaid shall be elected not later than the first day of September, nineteen hundred and thirty, and their several terms shall run from said date. On or before August first of the year in which the term of a member of the board will expire, his successor shall be elected in the same manner at a time and place, to be designated by the director of accounts, to serve for a term of three years from the first day of the September following. The retirement of any member of the board as a county commissioner shall thereupon create a vacancy in the board. All vacancies in the board shall be filled in the same manner as the original election for the unexpired term, and all commissioners elected to said board shall serve until the qualification of their respective successors. Each member of the board shall receive as compensation the sum of twenty-five dollars for each day's attendance at board meetings, in addition to his salary as county commissioner, and shall be reimbursed for expenses actually incurred in the transaction of the business of the board; provided, that the total amount paid for compensation as aforesaid shall not exceed twelve hundred and fifty dollars annually.

In case of the absence or disability of a member of the board, the other members may designate an acting member from among the county commissioners of the counties represented by such member, to serve during his absence or disability, and such acting member shall receive compensation at the same rate as a member of the board.