(1) If there be any political party or parties in any county without a party executive committee, such political party or parties shall select qualified electors of that county and of that party’s political faith to serve on a temporary county executive committee until members of a county executive committee are elected at the next regular election for executive committees. The selection of qualified electors to serve on the temporary county executive committee shall occur thirty (30) days before the date for which a candidate for a county office is required to qualify. The temporary county executive committee shall be selected in the following manner: Upon petition of five (5) or more members of that political faith, the chair of the State Executive Committee desiring to select a temporary county executive committee shall call a mass meeting of the qualified electors of their political faith who reside in the county to meet at some convenient place within the county, at a time to be designated in the call. At the mass convention, the members of that political faith shall select a temporary county executive committee. The temporary county executive committee shall serve until members of a county executive committee are elected at the next regular election for executive committees. The public shall be given notice of the mass meeting as provided in subsection (4) of this section. The chair of the State Executive Committee shall authorize the call within five (5) calendar days of receipt of the petition. If the chair of the State Executive Committee is either incapacitated, unavailable or nonresponsive and does not authorize the mass call within five (5) calendar days of receipt of the petition, any elected officer of the State Executive Committee may authorize the call within five (5) calendar days. If no elected officer of the State Executive Committee acts to approve such petition after an additional five (5) calendar days the petitioners shall be authorized to produce the call.

(2) If no county executive committee is selected or otherwise formed before an election, the State Executive Committee may serve as the temporary county executive committee and exercise all of the duties of the county executive committee for the county election. After a State Executive Committee has fulfilled its duties as the temporary county executive committee, it shall select a county executive committee before the next county election.

(3) A person convicted of a felony in a court of this state, any other state, or of the United States shall be barred from serving as a member of a county executive committee.

(4) The State Executive Committee shall publish a copy of its call for a meeting in some newspaper published in the affected county for three (3) weeks before the date set for the mass convention. If no newspaper is published in the county, then a copy of the call shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the county and by posting notices in three (3) public places in the county, one (1) of which shall be the county courthouse or the location where the county board of supervisors meets to conduct business. The publication shall occur not less than three (3) weeks before the date for the mass convention.