Section 9-3-22 Sale of Surplus Personal Property Owned by the Commission.

(a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the State Forester may sell and is responsible for the sale of any vehicles, equipment, and other personal property owned by the commission. These items shall be sold by the State Forester or his or her designee either at public auction or by a negotiated sale to any other state department, agency, or political subdivision thereof. (b) Every proposal to make a sale at public auction shall be advertised for at least two consecutive weeks in advance of the date fixed for the auction. The advertisement shall be listed continuously for at least two weeks on the public website of the commission. Any additional advertisements may be made as deemed necessary by the commission. Advertisements for auctions shall describe the property to be sold, where the property is located, the date, time, and place the property may be inspected and the date, time, and place of the auction. Property advertised under this section shall be available for inspection during normal business hours, at the advertised location of the property, for at least 48 hours prior to sale. (c) Bids shall be publicly taken or opened, in the case of sealed bids, by the commission or its designee, and all bidders shall be entitled to be present in person or by representative. The bid of the successful bidder so marked, as well as the bids of unsuccessful bidders in the case of sealed bids, shall be placed on file open to public inspection and shall become matters of public record. If a successful bidder fails to make payment for any item successfully bid upon, he or she may be prohibited from bidding at any sale held by the commission for a period of 12 months following the failure to pay. (d) All property sold under this section shall be paid for at the time of acceptance of a bid by the purchaser or his or her representative, either by cashier’s check, bank draft, certified check, U.S. currency, or notarized bank letter stating that the holder may purchase surplus property and also stating a maximum amount. A successful bidder shall take possession of and remove the purchased property within seven days of payment, unless some other time is agreed to in advance and in writing by the commission. (e) No officer or employee of this state or any of its departments, boards, bureaus, commissions, institutions, corporations, or agencies shall act as agent for any bidder, provided that officers or employees may not be excluded from bidding on or purchasing state property at public sale. (f) Any sale made in violation of this section shall be void, and the person responsible for the violations shall be subject to liquidated damages of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) and not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), which may be recovered for the State of Alabama by the Attorney General by civil action in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County. Any monies recovered by the Attorney General under this section shall be deposited into the State General Fund. (g) All proceeds from sales made under this section, whether at public auction or by negotiation, shall be paid into the Alabama Forestry Commission Fund in the State Treasury for use by the Alabama Forestry Commission. (h) The commission may adopt rules as deemed necessary to carry out this section.