The employment of all employees, except those exempted in Section 45-8-120.01, of Calhoun County, who are covered by this article shall be subject to the provisions of this article and the civil service rules and regulations developed, promulgated, and administered by the Calhoun County Civil Service Board pursuant to this article. The appointment and employment shall be upon a non-partisan merit basis and without regard to race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, or religion. The county commission shall be responsible for authorizing funding for those positions, regardless of service category, as determined to be necessary and within the financial resources of the county. At the beginning of each fiscal year the commission will furnish a list, by service category and department, of the positions that have been funded for the fiscal year to the board. If additional positions are required during the fiscal year, the appropriate appointing authority shall submit his or her written request and justification to the commission for funding approval. Upon approval, the commission will furnish the board with written notification that the additional positions have been funded. The board shall be responsible for assigning the position to its proper classification. The establishment of compensation will, in every case, conform to the approved classification plan, pay plan, and guidelines established by the board, in its implementing rules and regulations. Except in connection with an action associated with a reduction in force, demotion, suspension, discharge, or removal as herein provided for, no employees’ regular compensation may be reduced unless the action is a part of a general across-the-board decrease in the compensation of all employees in the county. The board shall not knowingly test, or appoint, any person who has been convicted of a felony or an offense involving moral turpitude. In the event a countywide reduction in force becomes necessary for economic reasons or a job or position is determined by the appointing authority to be no longer needed or required in his or her department, any employee may be laid off from the county service by the appointing authority with approval of the civil service board and county commission. The order of layoff for regular status classified service employees assigned to a particular job or position shall be inverse to the order of their appointment to the job or position, but only after all temporary service, part-time service, and probationary status individuals have first been separated from the position. All individuals who are employed now, or hereafter, by the county and are covered by this article shall remain in their respective employment so long as their conduct and performance meet appointing authority requirements and standards established by this article and the board’s implementing rules and regulations so long as the job remains a validly authorized position.