No such critter in Mass. Most, if not all, of the counties had an engineering department that provided surveying and engineering services to the towns within the county. No work for private individuals, or regulatory authority. County road layout surveys were usually done by the county engineering department, and the actual road construction and maintenance paid for by the towns. With many, but not all, of the county governments having been abolished, the engineering department records were scooped up by registers of deeds in each county, to keep them locally available. If the registers had not done that, we would have to go to the state archives in Boston just to get prints of the highway layout plans, or copies of their field notes.
rberry5886, post: 426914, member: 232 wrote: That was my second term...50,667 votes and I ran unopposed in 2010 also....Daniel Boone was the first County Surveyor here, and Squire Boone was County Surveyor some time after.....All that you need here to run for County Surveyor is a Survey License and $50.00..
Just don't go to San Antonio.
rberry5886, post: 426840, member: 232 wrote: I am the "Elected" County Surveyor in Fayette County, Kentucky (Lexington). About the only benefits I get are people thinking I will come out and survey their property for free....sarcasm off...this is my second term and they have been trying to have a state association for awhile now...some county surveyor's in Kentucky have an office in their respected County court house....I do not have that privilege...
Is there a record of the County Surveyor's work at the courthouse?
I guess this would be an appropriate time for this redux.
Michael Daniels, post: 426957, member: 11731 wrote: Is there a record of the County Surveyor's work at the courthouse?
The maps and field notes of the County Surveyor are maintained in our office - in a walk-in vault. They are scanned and in the process of being indexed on a layer of our GIS. The original Swamp & Overflowed surveys were performed by the County Surveyors at the direction of the State Surveyor General for patent by the State of California as segregated lands from the Public Lands.
Is there a record of the County Surveyor's work at the courthouse?
No.....unless I have a consolidation plat, or retracement plat that has to go through Planning to be approved then recorded....
Warren Smith, post: 426963, member: 9900 wrote: The maps and field notes of the County Surveyor are maintained in our office - in a walk-in vault. They are scanned and in the process of being indexed on a layer of our GIS. The original Swamp & Overflowed surveys were performed by the County Surveyors at the direction of the State Surveyor General for patent by the State of California as segregated lands from the Public Lands.
That is interesting. I will have to dig into that a little more. I appreciate the feedback.
Some of my predecessors were former GLO Deputies. They would have subdivided Townships and segregated Rancho Boundaries, as well as the Swamp & Overflow Land limits for the Feds. Once elected as County Surveyor, they would individually perform surveys of applicants for reclamation claims, as well as laying out town lots within the Ranchos, and public road alignments. Those are the records that remain property of the County.
The Tuolumne and Amador County Surveyors were still doing private work up until the 1960s, I'm sure others were too.
The Butte County Surveyor has a large vault with County Field books and a lot of old private records too. I found a Court exhibit in there that the Court no longer has.
Amador has a large collection of old records too, particularly Charles Bronson's unrecorded maps. He was County Surveyor in the 1940s and 1950s (not the movie star).
Dave Karoly, post: 426998, member: 94 wrote: particularly Charles Bronson's unrecorded maps. He was County Surveyor in the 1940s and 1950s
That was one County Surveyor no one messed with I bet. 🙂 Jp
A former coworker lived in a county adjacent to the Portland Metro area which elected their County Surveyor. The office holder (a good man) had run unopposed many times. One year - just after this coworker got licensed - a couple of his friends wrote his name in on their ballot as a joke. He came in second.
Worse, the winner only got 47 votes.
Michael Daniels, post: 426820, member: 11731 wrote: I am currently researching the role of the County Surveyor in Arkansas, but was also interested in feedback from across the country on this board. So if you have the time please respond to some or all of the following questions:
- Does the office of the County Surveyor exist in your state? (Please mention what state)
- If so, is it an elected or appointed position?
- What role - if any - does the office play in county government?
- Do you have a state association of County Surveyors?
- Are you a member of the National Association of County Surveyors?
Thank you for your time and I appreciate your feedback!
Here is a link to County Surveyors in Wisconsin:
http://www.sco.wisc.edu/county-surveyors-directory.html
There are statutory requirements but roles vary from County to County. Some full-time "County Surveyors" are pretty much that (have the title only) and their actual survey work is limited. Others get in a little field work but also may have other titles related to other county duties (engineers, land information officer, GIS manager etc). Others are in the field a lot, mostly maintaining PLSS corners and doing actual survey projects for the County. I do a lot of work for our County Forestry Dept because we have about 130,000 acres of county forest land and that borders about 400 miles of private land. We don't want to cut someone elses trees and yet don't want to give up any either, hence the need for surveyed lines.
We do have a State Association that meets 4 times a year and publish a little newsletter.
I am not a memeber of the NACS but there are several county surveyors who are.
There are a few county surveyors in Kansas out of the 105 counties. This is largely a holdover from the early days when they were essential. Many times the county engineer was also the county surveyor as the work went together naturally. Once licensure of surveyors took hold the need for the county surveyor greatly diminished. A resurgence of sorts occurred about 15 years ago when the surveyors society decided there was a need to enforce the old requirement of the county surveyor reviewing the work of any other surveyor performed in the county. I provide the services on a contractual basis at this time with two counties and have done the same in three other counties in the past. Pretty much anything survey related, except field work, that the county needs done falls my direction. They can hire me to do field work. Most project-connected survey work is handled through the large engineering/surveying consulting firms. That's fine with me. I'm too busy already.
Dave Karoly, post: 426998, member: 94 wrote: The Tuolumne and Amador County Surveyors were still doing private work up until the 1960s, I'm sure others were too.
The Butte County Surveyor has a large vault with County Field books and a lot of old private records too. I found a Court exhibit in there that the Court no longer has.
Amador has a large collection of old records too, particularly Charles Bronson's unrecorded maps. He was County Surveyor in the 1940s and 1950s (not the movie star).
Thanks Dave for the kind comments.
Michael Daniels, post: 426820, member: 11731 wrote: I am currently researching the role of the County Surveyor in Arkansas, but was also interested in feedback from across the country on this board. So if you have the time please respond to some or all of the following questions:
- Does the office of the County Surveyor exist in your state? (Please mention what state)
- If so, is it an elected or appointed position?
- What role - if any - does the office play in county government?
- Do you have a state association of County Surveyors?
- Are you a member of the National Association of County Surveyors?
Thank you for your time and I appreciate your feedback!
Yes. Texas
Elected
In our county, above and beyond the statutory requirements, the county has appointed the County Surveyor to review all subdivision plats and report on the plats compliance with the subdivision ordinance prior to the accepting and passing it.
No
No.
Iowa - No for the past 100 yrs
linebender, post: 427548, member: 449 wrote: Iowa - No for the past 100 yrs
One of my g-g-g-uncles was a county surveyor in southern Iowa for decades back in the 1800's. I wish I knew more about him.
