(1) The State Board of Election Commissioners, on or before the fifteenth day of February succeeding each general election, shall appoint in the several counties registrars of elections, who shall hold office for four (4) years and until their successors shall be duly qualified. The county registrar shall be the clerk of the circuit court, unless the State Board of Election Commissioners finds the circuit clerk to be an improper person to register the names of the electors in the county. The State Board of Election Commissioners shall draft rules and regulations to provide for notice and hearing before removal of the circuit clerk, if notice and a hearing is practicable under the circumstances.

(2) The county registrar is empowered to appoint deputy registrars, with the consent of the board of election commissioners, who may discharge the duties of the registrar.

The clerk of every municipality shall be appointed as such a deputy registrar, as contemplated by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).

(3) The county registrar shall not be held liable for any malfeasance or nonfeasance in office by any deputy registrar who is a deputy registrar by virtue of his or her office.

(4) The Secretary of State, in conjunction with the State Board of Community and Junior Colleges, has developed and made available online a computer skills training course for all newly appointed registrars that shall be completed within one hundred eighty (180) days of the commencement of their term of office.