Texas Surveyors ? "LSLS, RPLS" ?

not sure what you mean, but to become a LSLS you have to already be a RPLS.

last known to me, there are less than 100 LSLS and around 2700, give or take, RPLS.

while i have seen "RPLS, LSLS" on busines cards, etc., it seems a little redundant unless the reader is ignorant of that fact.

What Gets Listed First ?

When listing both.

If you are an LSLS, would it not be redundant to state you are an RPLS?

I list myself as ", PE, PLS" the order in which I received them.

Paul in PA

This reminds me of a couple of years ago when I spent a few months surveying in Texas. My boss at the time was an old college buddy of mine who almost immediately said to me: "Let's put it this way, the standards here aren't exactly like what you're used to back home (Florida)." He was right, as I saw some of the worst plats I have ever seen as I conducted research on projects we were working on. Unfortunately, finding bad plats tended to be more common than finding good ones. To be fair though, I eventually came across a deed for a large tract of land that was so well written, I felt obliged to send the surveyor who wrote it an email thanking him for his dilligent efforts, which was well received.

I left Texas with some great experience, but also with the feeling that state is....interesting.

I like using the term "professional". You "register" cattle and farm animals I thought.

> Is there a uniform priority to the use of both acronyms?

No. The LSLS license has been vastly oversold as a sort of "master surveyor" credential even though historically it was anything but that. There is so little work that actually requires an LSLS that I suppose many licensees want to be sure that any potential client is aware that they are one.

It may also be that they want private clients to be aware up front of the potential conflict of interest that the LSLS license presents, i.e. they will be obligated to report to the Commissioner of the General Land Office certain matters that a private landowner might want to keep private.

CYA is important, that's why we are Registered Professional Land Surveyors. 😉

Allow me to display my ignorance

What is the difference between the two registerations?

Paul

LSLS or Licensed State Land Surveyors came into being sometime around 1919 if I remember. RPS or Registered Public Surveyors came into being in 1955 then revamped to RPLS or Registered Professional Land Surveyor circa 1992.

I don't remember when the rule was changed, but at one time, you could be an LSLS and not an RPLS. Now one must be an RPLS first, and that is the only requirement. However, their jobs are slightly different. If you are using your RPLS, then you MUST protect the public; however, if you are using your LSLS, you are an agent of the State of Texas, and must put it's interest first. Should you be using your RPLS license and come across a vacancy (unsurveyed school land) or excess then you are duty bound to the State of Texas, to report it, regardless of whether it's detrimental to your client. As much work in the oil patch as there is in Texas, that is chiefly why there are so few LSLS's.

The LSLS can do something that an RPLS can't do, and that's file stuff in the General Land Office. The only time an RPLS can do that is when they are acting in a county surveyor's capacity, who can file stuff in the GLO, but only within their county and under their review.

Contrary to Kent's lament, there are some VERY good surveyors who hold both licenses. O'Henry was an LSLS also. As with anything though, there are poor LSLS's just like RPLS's. They LSLS really doesn't have much call these days though. Kent was correct in that. The requirement to disregard the public in favor of the state is why I haven't pursued the license. Most of the work that Kent does, and I do semi-regularly, if there is any curative work that is requisite, will eventually need an LSLS signature on it. I feel confident that Kent has worked with a number of LSLS's over the years with the project he tackles. Without there seal, the GLO could not accept any of his work, if it were needed to be filed there.

I hope that helps your understanding.

Allow me to display my ignorance

> What is the difference between the two registerations?

The LSLS license is essentially a license to file certain maps and papers in the Texas GLO. As a condition of the license, the LSLS agrees to take directions from the Commissioner of the GLO on how to locate the boundaries of lands in which the Permanent School Fund has an interest and to reports certain matters such as the existence of unsurveyed public land (vacancies) he or she may find in the course of work.

Paul

> O'Henry was an LSLS also.

I assume that you're kidding about that. William Sidney Porter worked at the GLO as a draftsman and died in 1910 before the LSLS license even existed.

Kent

Then what is that test they have framed on the wall down there representative of????

Kent

It would appear that you are right. I cannot remember why I feel that he has a test hanging on the wall down there. It could be a test for drafting for all I know.

At any rate, here is what the GLO has to say about it.

O'Henry at the GLO

However

It would appear that he actually worked for surveyors outside of the GLO.

Frank M. Maddox (1851-1921), along with his brother John W. Maddox (1846-1915), began working as a surveyor in the Texas panhandle in the early 1870's. With Charles E. Anderson (1852-1924), the brothers formed the firm of Maddox Brothers and Anderson in the mid-1880's. W. S. Porter, also known by the pseudonym O. Henry, worked for the firm in the mid-1880's. The Maddox Brothers spent time in the General Land Office for their business at the same time that O. Henry was employed there.
My Recollections of O. Henry (W. S. Porter)
Publisher Info:
Publisher Name: Texas. General Land Office

Other stuff

However

There is a LSLS exam from the 1940's, I believe, hanging up in the GLO. It's pretty interesting to read.

Kent

> It would appear that you are right.

Of course I'm right. William Sidney Porter died in 1910. There were absolutely zero Licensed State Land Surveyors anywhere in Texas prior to the enactment of the Licensed Land Surveyors Act of 1919 [Chapter 2 of Title 86, Revised Civil Statutes of 1925] that created the title of Licensed State Land Surveyor.

However

> There is a LSLS exam from the 1940's, I believe, hanging up in the GLO. It's pretty interesting to read.

And originally the licensing requirements were even more minimal. From the Licensed State Land Surveyors Act of 1919:

>Any applicant who is a reputable surveyor of fifteen years actual experience in the field as such surveyor shall receive a license without examination when he shall have applied therefor, accompanying such application to the Board with the affidavits of three credible persons to the effect that such applicant is a reputable land surveyor of fifteen years actual experience in the field, and upon the payment of a fee of two dollars to said Board [Art.5282]

> while i have seen "RPLS, LSLS" on busines cards, etc., it seems a little redundant unless the reader is ignorant of that fact.

Well, wouldn't that be the whole point, to tell the the potential client what you are qualified to do? How many regular landowners know the difference (Maybe they all do for all I know)? What if they were told they they needed a plat signed by a "RPLS" and they didn't see that you had the credentials on the card (and of course what if someone needed work done that only a "LSLS" could do?)

Anyway, I'm not from Texas, but I would assume your business card should show your various types of licenses.

Thanks Kent

For being gracious. You're always a classy guy.

Thanks Kent

Of course he is.