AGO 97040.

• Court: Nebraska

Nebraska Attorney General Opinions 1997. AGO 97040. DATE: August 6, 1997SUBJECT: Qualifications for Appointment and Continued Membership on a Board When a Member's Qualifications Change During Office REQUESTED BY: Marilyn Hasselbalch, Executive Director Nebraska Real Estate Appraiser BoardWRITTEN BY: Don Stenberg, Attorney General Timothy J. Texel, Assistant Attorney General You have requested our opinion on several issues primarily dealing with situations where a board member's status changes subsequent to appointment. Specifically, you ask the following questions: 1) Are board membership appointments predicated on the understanding the appointee will retain the designation which provided eligibility for appointment? 2) Is an appointee obligated to resign if he or she no longer holds the license or designation which established eligibility? 3) If a board member appointed to represent a certain industry severs that relationship in midterm, is the member ineligible to continue serving as a board member? It appears the Board's first and third questions are closely related and can be addressed together. They deal with situations where a person met the qualifications for board membership when appointed, but during his or her term of office the board member's status changes (such as retirement, failure to renew a license, or change of professions), so that he or she no longer meets the initial membership qualification requirements. The question is whether such a status change makes the member ineligible to continue serving as a board member? Based on previous opinions issued by this office, we believe that eligibility criteria are continuing requirements. Thus, a member whose status changes so that he or she no longer meets the appointment qualifications thereby becomes ineligible to serve the remainder of his or her term of office. Once a member is appointed, the Real Estate Appraiser Act, §§ 76-2201 to 76-2250, does not provide guidance concerning how to address situations where a board member's status changes during office. Our review of the legislative history for § 76-2222 also failed to disclose any specific indication concerning what the Legislature may have intended in such situations. Likewise, we found no Nebraska case law on point. This office has previously addressed continuing eligibility for service on a state board when...