Section 53A. The county commissioners of each county shall designate or appoint a director of affirmative action who shall be the chief affirmative action officer for their respective county. Said person so designated shall not be a county commissioner. The person so designated shall presently be employed by said county. The person to be designated or appointed to said position shall possess: three years full-time or equivalent part-time experience in personnel administration or in a related field, or in a program or position in which their duties significantly involve affirmative action programs, or significant involvement in a community organization dealing with minority employment, or has earned a baccalaureate degree from a recognized college or university in the field of public administration, business administration, personnel administration, urban planning, social work, counseling, or in any related field of study or has successfully completed courses toward a graduate degree in the above fields. The person so designated shall receive no additional compensation for such appointment, and the county shall not consider the position held prior to such appointment vacant and shall not hire any additional employee in consideration of this appointment. In addition, said person shall also have a knowledge of the problems of minorities, females, and other affected groups when seeking employment, a knowledge of the elements of affirmative action programs, laws, regulations and guidelines, a knowledge of the various personnel selection processes, a knowledge of social psychology and its application, a knowledge of interviewing and counseling techniques, the ability to analyze written and statistical data in conjunction with planning abilities, good writing skills and oral expression, the ability to coordinate effectively with other public and private agencies, and the administrative skills to operate and supervise the office of affirmative action. The director of affirmative action shall report to and be under the direct supervision of the county commissioners.

Said director, with the assistance of the county personnel director, shall develop a county affirmative action plan. The purpose of this plan shall be to highlight equal employment opportunity discrepancies and to establish affirmative measures to ensure equal opportunity in the areas of hiring, promotion, demotion, transfer, recruitment, layoff, termination, rate of compensation, inservice or apprenticeship training programs, grievance procedures, and all terms and conditions of employment. Such affirmative actions shall include efforts required to remedy the effects of present and past discriminatory patterns and practices, as well as actions necessary to guarantee equal employment opportunity for all people. Said director shall also monitor all county contracts with outside vendors to ensure that every effort is made to utilize minority and women vendors and that contractors engaged for county work have instituted their own affirmative action plans.

Said director shall, from time to time, but at least every three months, report to the commissioners of the progress being made by all appointing and hiring authorities in meeting their affirmative action plans. Said director, with the approval of the county commissioners, may designate certain employees as department or office affirmative action representatives. Said affirmative action representatives shall monitor the implementation of and compliance with the affirmative action plan in their departments or offices and report on same for said director.