The State Personnel Board shall appoint an employee appeals board, which shall consist of three (3) hearing officers, for the purpose of holding hearings, compiling evidence and rendering decisions on appeals of state agency action adversely affecting the employment status or compensation of any employee in the state service. Hearings before the employee appeals board may be conducted by an individual hearing officer or by the board en banc, as provided in State Personnel Board rules. The original appointments shall be effective February 1, 1981, as follows:
Upon expiration of the foregoing terms, members shall be appointed by the board for terms to expire February 1 each four (4) years thereafter, and may be reappointed. The members of the employee appeals board shall be paid an appropriate fee, to be established by the attorney general, and they shall be reimbursed for any actual and necessary expenses incurred while hearing an appeal as authorized by general law.
Miss. Code § 25-9-129