(a) A State's Attorney may appoint as many deputy State's Attorneys as necessary for the proper and efficient performance of his or her office and may remove them at pleasure.

(b) The pay for deputy State's Attorneys shall be fixed by the Executive Director of the Department of State's Attorneys and Sheriffs or through collective bargaining pursuant to 3 V.S.A. chapter 27, but it shall not exceed the pay of the State's Attorney making the appointment. Deputy State's Attorneys shall be compensated only for periods of actual performance of the duties of the office. Deputy State's Attorneys shall be reimbursed for their necessary expenses incurred in connection with their official duties when approved by the State's Attorneys and the Commissioner of Finance and Management.

(c) Deputy State's Attorneys shall exercise all the powers and duties of the State's Attorneys except the power to designate someone to act in the event of their own disqualification.

(d) Deputy State's Attorneys may not enter upon the duties of the office until they have taken the oath or affirmation of allegiance to the State and the oath of office required by the Constitution, and until the oath together with their appointment is filed for record with the county clerk. If appointed and under oath, a deputy State's Attorney may prosecute cases in another county if the State's Attorney in the other county files the deputy's appointment in the other county clerk's office. In case of a vacancy in the office of State's Attorney, the appointment of the deputy shall expire upon the appointment of a new State's Attorney. (Amended 1959, No. 253, eff. June 11, 1959; 1959, No. 328 (Adj. Sess.), § 8(c); 1967, No. 363 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 2, eff. March 27, 1968; 1969, No. 266 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. April 8, 1970; 1971, No. 120, § 49; 1971, No. 260 (Adj. Sess.), § 33; 1983, No. 195 (Adj. Sess.), § 5(b); 2009, No. 58, § 24; 2017, No. 81, § 12, eff. June 15, 2017.)