§ 160-c. State board of real estate appraisal. 1. There is hereby established within the department of state a state board of real estate appraisal which shall consist of nine members, three of whom shall be public members and six of whom shall be real estate appraisers, who shall have and exercise the powers of the board as set forth in section one hundred sixty-d of this article.

2. Three members shall be appointed by the governor, one of whom shall be a public member; two members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the senate, one of whom shall be a real estate appraiser and one of whom shall be a public member; two members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly, one of whom shall be a real estate appraiser and one of whom shall be a public member; one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate; one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assembly. The term of each member shall be five years.

3. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the members of the first board who are real estate appraisers, need not be certified or licensed under this article prior to their appointment to the board. The board shall appoint an executive secretary who shall be a real estate appraiser.

4. The executive secretary and real estate appraiser members first appointed to the board shall be certified designated members in good standing of a nationally recognized real estate appraisal organization that as of June first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine, required appraisal experience, education and testing in order to become a designated member, in addition to adherence to standards of professional practice in order to retain such designation. Each real estate appraiser member of the board appointed after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-six, must be a state certified real estate appraiser. At least one-half of the appraiser members appointed after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-six, shall hold the general appraisal certificate. Any vacancy occurring on the board shall be filled within sixty days of its occurrence, in the same manner as the member whose vacancy is being filled was appointed. A person appointed to fill a vacancy occurring other than by expiration of a term shall be appointed for the unexpired term of the member he succeeds. No person shall serve as a member of the board for more than two consecutive terms. The public members of the board shall not be engaged in the practice of real estate appraising.