Ala. Code § 12-13-15
Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the office of the probate judge, the chief clerk in that office, appointed and qualified as authorized by law, shall, during such vacancy and until the qualification of a lawful successor, perform all the duties of that office which he is authorized by law to perform when there is no vacancy, but must not receive money on decrees or executions or become the custodian of trust funds pertaining to the court. He may make all necessary orders for the continuances of cases and proceedings pending in the court.
All such duties are to be performed, during such vacancy, by such chief clerk in his own name as clerk of the probate court, and he is entitled to the lawful fees therefor. For his official acts under this article, such chief clerk and the sureties on his bond to the probate judge shall be liable to persons injured according to the legal effect of official bonds as declared by statute.
Ala. Code § 12-13-15 (1975)