Section 11-43A-8
Name of governing body; composition of council; election of council; alternate form for Class 6 cities.
(a) The governing body provided for herein shall be known collectively as the "Council of the City (Town) of _____ (name of city or town to be inserted)" and shall have the powers and duties hereinafter provided. Except as hereinafter provided and as otherwise provided for in Section 11-43A-1.1, the council shall have five members. One member shall be the mayor, elected by the voters at large, to preside over the deliberations of the council. One member shall be a council member elected by the voters at large. Three members shall be council members elected by the voters from each of three single-member districts. The council first elected shall qualify and take office on the first Monday in November following the date of the next ensuing municipal election held for the election of members of a municipal governing body during a general municipal election year.
(b) In Class 6 cities, the municipal governing body, by resolution, may elect to have the council composed and elected as provided in subsection (a) or to have the alternate form as provided in this subsection. If the municipal governing body, by resolution, elects to have the alternate form, it shall immediately notify the judge of probate, who shall have the ballots for the election, authorized in Section 11-43A-3, prepared to pose the question of the adoption of the alternate form of government authorized in this section. The council shall have nine members. One member shall be the mayor, who shall be a voting member, elected by the voters at large, to preside over the deliberations of the council. Eight members shall be council members elected by the voters, two from each of four dual-member districts. The council first elected shall qualify and take office on the first Monday in October in an even-numbered year designated by the municipal governing body unless the election approving the change in the form of government was held in 1983, in which case the council shall qualify and take office on the first Monday in October 1986.
(c) Subsequent to the seating of the initial council, the next council shall be elected at an election to be held in accordance with provisions of the general municipal election laws.
(Acts 1982, No. 82-517, p. 851, §8; Acts 1983, No. 83-621, p. 964, §1; Act 2018-569, §2; Act 2019-360, §2.)