Two members of the Orange County Board of Education, facing separate legal challenges that could push them off the board, are seeing their cases move in potentially different directions.

An Orange County Superior Court judge on Monday held off issuing a final ruling in a case that questions the legality of the manner in which Tim Shaw was appointed to his seat as a trustee on the Orange County Board of Education. The decision by Judge Martha Gooding means her tentative ruling of March 4 — to deny a preliminary injunction in Shaw’s case — can stand, at least temporarily.

Last year, Shaw stepped away from the OCBE while facing a possible conflict-of-interest lawsuit because, at the time, he concurrently held spots on the school board and on the La Habra City Council. He eventually resigned the city job and was later re-appointed to the OCBE.

RELATED: Lawsuit alleges OC Board of Education illegally appointed trustee to a seat he recently had vacated

Meanwhile, another OCBE member, Beckie Gomez, is facing a similar legal challenge, because she sits on both the school board and the Tustin City Council.

Last week, Gomez was served during a board meeting with legal documents that question whether she unlawfully holds the post because “upon taking office on the City Council, she forfeited her position on the County Board of Education.”

That same question, and the threat of legal action that came with it, prompted Shaw to resign his elected seat on the OCBE last November.

At the time, California’s attorney general gave the green-light to county resident Melissa Louden to sue Shaw over his right to hold the OCBE post.

Faced with the attorney general’s decision, Shaw said he didn’t want to take on the burden of fighting a lawsuit and stepped down from the OCBE, citing a rule that required him to remain in his most recently elected post, which at that time was his job on the city council. His preference, however, was to stay with the OCBE, where he is part of a conservative majority pushing conservative ideals.

Shaw resigned from the La Habra City Council on Dec. 21 and, later that day, was re-appointed to the school board on a 3-1 vote by the other trustees. He beat out six other applicants for the job during a session that felt pre-ordained to favor Shaw.

Sean Michael Wright, best known for his work with the homeless, filed a lawsuit against OCBE over Shaw’s appointment, citing a state law that prohibits a board from appointing someone who has resigned from that same position.

On Monday, an attorney for Wright told the judge that Shaw’s re-appointment to OCBE was “void on its face.”

Shaw declined to comment Monday.

Gomez is facing a legal challenge from Santa Ana resident Mike Tardif.  Arguments in his application to the attorney general mirrored the arguments posed by Louden against Shaw, and cited that case.

Gomez also declined to comment.