Opn. No.

James C. Ripton, Esq. Massapequa, New York

You have asked whether one person may simultaneously serve as a commissioner of a water district located in your town and as a member of the town's board of zoning appeals.

In the absence of a constitutional or statutory prohibition against dual-officeholding, one person may hold two offices simultaneously unless they are incompatible. The leading case on compatibility of office isPeople ex rel. Ryan v Green, 58 N.Y. 295 (1874). In that case the Court held that two offices are incompatible if one is subordinate to the other or if there is an inherent…