The indigent defense advisory board may establish a public defender office as a method to provide indigent defense services within a circuit or any part thereof.

For each new term, and to fill any vacancy, the director may select and appoint a public defender for a circuit. The indigent defense advisory board shall be consulted and have the right to recommend the selection and appointment of a public defender for the circuit. Attorneys appointed hereunder as public defenders shall be licensed to practice law in Alabama at the time of the appointment or by the time he or she assumes office.