The governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint an adjutant general who shall be chief of staff to the governor, and may be removed by the governor at will. The adjutant general shall appoint the civilian employees and other personnel of the department and may remove any of them in accordance with applicable law.

The expenses of the adjutant general's department, necessary to the military service, shall be audited, allowed, and paid as other military expenditures.

The adjutant general must execute an official bond running to the state in the penal sum of twenty thousand dollars conditioned for the faithful performance of his or her duties. The bond shall be submitted to the attorney general for approval, and when approved shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state. The cost of the bond shall be paid by the state.

The adjutant general may obtain and pay for, from funds appropriated for military purposes, a surety bond or bonds running to the state covering such officers of the organized militia responsible to the state for money or military property, as may be advisable to insure proper accountability. The bond or bonds shall be approved and filed in the same manner as the adjutant general's bond.