Ala. Code § 23-1-36

Whenever responsibility for the construction, maintenance, and repair of county roads and bridges is transferred by law from any county commission to the State Department of Transportation, the employees used by the State Department of Transportation in any such county in connection with the construction, maintenance, and repair of the county’s roads and bridges shall be drawn insofar as possible from residents of the county. In the event of a vacancy in any such position of employment in the classified service of the state, the personnel director, upon request of the Director of Transportation that the personnel director certify to him the names of persons eligible for appointment to the position, shall establish a county register of eligibles who are residents of the county in which the vacancy occurs, and the personnel director shall certify the names of persons appearing on the county register for appointment to the position. If, however, no appointment is made from the county register or if there is no county register, appointment shall be made from the statewide register.