(1) Except as provided in subsection (7) of this section, the Chairman of the Board of Tax Appeals shall appoint an executive director of the board who will serve at the will and pleasure of the chairman, but the executive director is subject to removal from office as provided for under Section 25-5-1; however, the executive director may also be removed from office for a criminal conviction for violating the Internal Revenue Code.

(2) The executive director shall be admitted to practice law in this state and have a familiarity with the tax appeals process sufficient to fulfill the duties of the office of executive director. The salary of the executive director shall be set by the State Personnel Board. The executive director shall devote full time to the duties assigned to him by the board and/or its chairman.

(3) The Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals shall keep the minutes of the board and make a record of all official orders, findings and acts of the board. The executive director shall file and preserve as a record, all papers, exhibits and documents, filed with the board in any proceeding before it, and shall perform such other duties as the chairman of the board may direct. He shall certify copies of such records as are in his custody, and such copies, when so certified, shall be accepted in all matters equally and in like manner as the original.

(4) The Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals shall direct and supervise the preparation of any record of a hearing before the Board of Tax Appeals to be filed in any court of the state.

(5) The Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals is hereby empowered to employ clerical personnel, stenographers and such other assistants and/or attorneys as he may deem necessary for the proper discharge of his duties and the duties of the Board of Tax Appeals.

(6) The Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals shall also have the following powers:

(a) To supervise and direct all administrative and technical activities of the Board of Tax Appeals;

(b) To make, execute and effectuate any and all agreements or contracts, including contracts for the purchase of goods and services, as are necessary;

(c) To enter into long-term or multiyear leases of real property with other state agencies;

(d) To perform such other acts he deems necessary to carry out the duties assigned to him by the Chairman of the Board of Tax Appeals or imposed on him by law.

(7) On July 1, 2010, the person who immediately prior to that date held the position of Secretary of the State Tax Commission shall fill the position of the Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals. This change of positions from the Secretary of the State Tax Commission to the Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals shall be treated as a continuation of the same position with the position being transferred from the State Tax Commission to the Board of Tax Appeals with the effective date of such transfer being July 1, 2010. Upon assuming the position of the Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals on July 1, 2010, this person, who had previously been Secretary of the State Tax Commission, shall serve in the position of Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals at the will and pleasure of the Chairman of the Board of Tax Appeals and will be subject to removal from that position as set out in subsection (1) of this section.

(8) Since the Board of Tax Appeals is the successor to the three-member State Tax Commission in regard to administrative appeals, the Secretary of the State Tax Commission shall take with him, when he assumes the position of the Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals, all minutes and orders of the three-member State Tax Commission and all papers, exhibits and documents filed with the three-member State Tax Commission that had been previously preserved as a record of that body by the Secretary of the State Tax Commission and shall continue to preserve these minutes, orders and records of the three-member State Tax Commission in accordance with any record retention schedule established for such records. He shall continue to perform any other duties and responsibilities of the Secretary of the State Tax Commission in regard to these minutes, orders and records, including, but not limited to, certifying copies of such records, and such copies, when so certified, shall be accepted in all matters equally and in like manner as the original.