Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §241, as amended by PL 1997, c. 516, §1, is further amended to read:

§241. State Auditor; salary

The State Auditor shall be is the head of the Department of Audit, as heretofore established. He shall The State Auditor must be a certified public accountant or a college graduate with not less than 6 years of experience as a professional accountant or auditor, including not less than 5 years of auditing experience, of which not less than 4 years shall have been in a supervisory capacity or qualified to be certified as a public accountant pursuant to Title 32, section 12228. He shall The State Auditor must be elected by the Legislature by a joint ballot of the Senators and Representatives in convention and shall hold holds office for a term of 4 years or until his a successor is elected and qualified. He shall exercise The State Auditor exercises such powers and perform performs such duties as are set forth in this chapter. In case If the office of State Auditor shall become becomes vacant during a period when the Legislature is not in session, the appointment of a person to fill such vacancy shall must be made immediately by the President of the Senate or, if that office be is vacant, by the Speaker of the House, said the appointed person to hold office until such time as the Legislature shall meet meets in regular or special session, and either confirm confirms the appointment of said the person or choose chooses another person to fill the office during the unexpired term.

If a person elected to the office of State Auditor is not qualified as, or has not successfully completed or passed the examination for, a certified public accountant, public accountant or certified internal auditor at the time of election and fails to become so qualified within 9 months of being sworn into office, as required by section 242, that person may no longer serve as State Auditor and is ineligible for reelection by the same Legislature and the office of State Auditor is deemed vacant.

Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §242, as amended by PL 1987, c. 802, §§1 and 2, is further amended to read:

§242. Organization; deputy

The Department of Audit shall must be organized in the manner the State Auditor may deem considers best suited to the accomplishment of its functions. It shall must have such auditors, assistants and employees as the State Auditor may require, but they shall be are subject to the Civil Service Law.