(1) Nothing in Sections 31-7-101 through 31-7-127 shall be construed to prohibit the board of supervisors from designating any county employees, in addition to other responsibilities, to also serve as purchase clerk, receiving clerk or inventory control clerk; however, except as otherwise authorized in Section 19-4-1 and subsection (2) of this section, any employee designated to serve as one of the foregoing shall not at the same time be designated to serve as any of the other.
(2) In any county having a population of less than three thousand (3,000) according to the latest federal decennial census, the board of supervisors may, in its discretion, designate the same person to serve as purchase clerk, receiving clerk and inventory control clerk, or any combination of such positions.