37-51-201. Presiding officer -- seal -- records -- prohibition on membership in real estate associations. (1) The members of the board shall elect a presiding officer from among their number.

(2) The board shall adopt a seal of a design that it prescribes. Copies of records and papers kept by the department, certified by the presiding officer, and authenticated by the seal of the board must be received in evidence in courts with the same effect as the original. Records of the board are open to public inspection under rules it prescribes.

(3) The department:

(a) shall keep a record of proceedings, transactions, communications, and official acts of the board;

(b) is custodian of the records of the board; and

(c) shall perform other duties that the board, on the written request of two or more members of the board or at other times that the presiding officer, considers necessary.

(4) The presiding officer or an employee of the department hired to provide services to the board may not be an officer or paid employee of any real estate association or group of real estate dealers or brokers.