Ala. Code § 45-28A-42.06: Application.

All applicants for a place or position on the police force or fire department, as the case may be, shall file their application in writing with the civil service board, the applications to be on the blank forms furnished by the board, and all applicants shall be subject to examination, which shall be public, competitive, and open to all citizens of the United States, with specified limitations as to age, residence, health, habits, and moral character. Such examinations shall be practical in their character, and shall relate to those matters which will fairly test the relative capacity of the persons examined to intelligently discharge the duties of the position to which they aspire.