The solicitors of this state shall be full-time employees of the State of South Carolina, provided, however, that any solicitor serving in office on July 1, 1976, whose term of office expires in the year 1979 shall not be required to be full time as provided by this section until the expiration of his term in 1979. Each solicitor shall receive an annual salary and a monthly expense allowance as is provided by the General Assembly.

When a solicitor is required to serve out of his circuit, he shall also receive such subsistence and mileage as is authorized by law for circuit judges while holding court without the county in which they reside. Each solicitor shall have one full-time secretary who shall receive such annual salary as may be provided by the General Assembly.