BIBB COUNTY v. MONROE COUNTY Can't we all just get along

Here's the important question.

Was the surveyor ever paid?

We had a similar dispute in NC between Guilford County and Alamance County. The state surveyor redid the line and some historically Alamance residents were deemed to be Guilford residents instead. Big difference in county tax rates with Guilford taxes much higher.

Anyway, when the Guilford County commissioners met with the affected citizens, and were called every brand of thief and scalawag in the NC Official Glossary, they resolved to leave those folks alone. I'm not sure where the line is, but those folks still live in Alamance County.

We have a similar dispute with some South Carolina residents who have been deemed to actually live in North Carolina. One of the affected parties owns a convenience store thought to be in SC but now deemed to be in NC. There is a significant difference in gasoline prices between the two states; NC has a higher tax. This guy's business is in jeopardy.

I love reading up on these, and there are several around the country that have come up in the last twenty years.

The one thing I really find humorous is how much bureaucratic time and energy can be generated in the course of the litigation. What is hilarious is everybody is trying to determine the location of a historic line that was probably ambiguous at best...and may not have ever been run on the ground on the first place! I'll bet the surveyors are the only ones 'with a dog in this hunt' that are unbiased. Everybody else has a financial stake in the matter.

And even though the original terminus of these lines may actually get restored by capable surveyors; their surveys mean little when the legal boys get a hold of them. The lines between them still get argued ad nauseam.

It's kind of like arguing about whether your great-granddad had red or blonde hair....when the only existing evidence is a black and white tin-type photo...you'll never REALLY know...I hold the courts responsible for not putting and end to the pecker wars and making the parties come to some sort of an agreement. And it goes on and on and on and on................................

Ol' Great Great Granpappy had hair of auburn as viewed by whomever was filling out his induction papers for that really big war in what might have been the US back in the first half of the 1860's. His eyes were brown and he stood 5'9" tall. But, then again, maybe everyone who went through the line that day had identical data reported. Maybe the eyes were hazel and the hair was dirty blonde. Was the determination of height made with a standardized method or a quick glance and guess? The sole purpose was to simplify identification of war fatalities for notification of next of kin. Nevertheless, fans of genealogy savor these snippets of information about their ancestors. BTW, I'm still waiting to meet someone whose great great grandma was a working girl upstairs at one of the old saloons in the Old West.

What gets me about the NC- SC realignment is that Google Earth clearly shows where the line is and that the aforementioned convenience store is firmly rooted in SC.

I think (please correct me if I'm wrong) that state lines can only be changed by an act of the US congress and are then subject to appeal to SCOTUS. SCOTUS, in turn, has always ruled that, regardless of the line-running expertise embodied in a new survey, historical usage trumps it.

So, here's a question. Does codification of a state line in Google Earth provide convincing evidence of historical usage?

MathTeacher, post: 342891, member: 7674 wrote: I think (please correct me if I'm wrong) that state lines can only be changed by an act of the US congress and are then subject to appeal to SCOTUS. SCOTUS, in turn, has always ruled that, regardless of the line-running expertise embodied in a new survey, historical usage trumps it.

I don't anybody is trying to move anything; i believe this is about interpretation.

MathTeacher, post: 342891, member: 7674 wrote: So, here's a question. Does codification of a state line in Google Earth provide convincing evidence of historical usage?

Short answer: No

I think this is a County line, the retracement of which is governed by State Statute. The Georgia Secretary of State appears to be the arbitrator.

In California, it requires consent of both Boards of Supervisors to initiate, accept the findings, and record the record of survey in each county.

To answer your question, all evidence is considered, weighted and, if persuasive, deemed applicable.

Warren Smith, post: 342897, member: 9900 wrote: I think this is a County line, the retracement of which is governed by State Statute. The Georgia Secretary of State appears to be the arbitrator.

In California, it requires consent of both Boards of Supervisors to initiate, accept the findings, and record the record of survey in each county.

Right, in NC, it's the state Supreme Court. But I was referring to the North Carolina-South Carolina boundary, which both states have long-standing boundary commissions negotiating a solution.

Don't North Carolina and Georgia also have a disagreement over their mutual boundary?

Yes, I believe that in State boundary disputes, a Boundary Commission is established by Congress to sort out issues prayed for by the respective state legislatures.

The California/Arizona border is defined by the sinuosities of the Colorado River. A Commission was created to administer and rule upon the field work required to establish a "snapshot in time" of a heavily drawn upon source of irrigation and drinking water.