Local boards shall conduct meetings in the judicial circuit which they represent. Each board must be provided sufficient staff to perform its functions as set forth in this article with funds provided in the annual state general appropriations act. Members of the local boards and former members substituting for an absent member may not receive compensation for their services but must be allowed mileage, per diem, and subsistence as provided by law for state boards, committees, and commissions for attendance at board meetings. If needed to ensure a quorum at a board meeting, a current or former member of a local board may serve as a substitute on a board other than his own board, whether or not the substitute member is a resident of the judicial circuit of that board.