No bonds or other evidences of indebtedness of any commission or authority created to construct or reconstruct highway bridges, approaches and appurtenances thereto, any state rural electrification authority, any electric membership corporation, any power district, or any improvement authority shall be issued or sold until the consent to the issuance and sale thereof shall have been given by the Department of Finance, to be evidenced by the written approval of the Director of Finance. Such consent shall be granted only after a public hearing and after a petition requesting such consent has been duly filed by the corporation, authority, district, commission, or other body seeking such consent with the department more than five days before the public hearing. The petition shall specify the plan or program of the body seeking the consent and the uses to which it is proposed to put the proceeds of the issue and the other matters as are necessary to fully advise the department of the nature of the proposed project, and the petition shall include such other information as may be required by the rules of the department. The Department of Finance shall grant consent only after it finds that the issue or sale serves some public need and is in the public interest. It shall be unlawful for the body seeking such consent or anyone to use the proceeds of any such issue or sale contrary to the plan and purposes presented to the department in obtaining its consent thereto. This section shall not apply to any bonds or other evidence of indebtedness issued by any municipality, or any agencies, bureaus, or commissions thereof, nor any municipal, county, or regional housing authority.
Ala. Code § 41-4-16 (1975)