(a) County surveyors shall be elected, commissioned, qualified, and removed as are clerks of the superior courts and shall hold their offices for four years.

(b)(1) Every person holding the post of county surveyor must be a qualified surveyor, licensed by the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, and such person must have successfully passed the examination given by the board as a prerequisite to the granting of a license as a land surveyor; provided, however, that any person holding the position of county surveyor on March 7, 1966, whether elected or appointed, shall not be required to meet the qualifications enumerated in this subsection so long as such person remains in the position of county surveyor, whether reappointed or reelected to this position.

(2) Paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not apply to:

(A) Any county having a population of less than 17,000 inhabitants according to the United States decennial census of 1960 or any future such census; or

(B) Any person who was holding the position of county surveyor in such a county on January 1, 1977, and who has acted continuously as county surveyor since that date, for as long as such person remains in the position of county surveyor, notwithstanding the fact that the population of the county has grown to exceed 17,000.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this Code section or paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of Code Section 43-15-29, a county surveyor who is not licensed by the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors shall only practice land surveying for the county and shall not engage in the private practice of professional land surveying; provided, however, that this subsection shall not apply to any county surveyor duly elected and holding office on June 30, 1986, so long as said person continues to hold the office of county surveyor; provided, however, that any county surveyor who has a minimum of four years of surveying experience shall be eligible to take the land surveyor examination and eligible for certification as a land surveyor.