Office of County Surveyor

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 03:04:29 GMT

By law, the county surveyor in counties that have a population of less than 17,000 by the latest census does not have to be licensed. In my early days of surveying (1970s and 1980s) the office of county surveyor caused considerable professional problems, especially in rural areas. There were three unlicensed county surveyors in the area I worked in, and additional ones in other parts of the state. They knew basically nothing about how to survey land. One in our area used a compass to determine bearings because he did not know how to use a transit or theodolite, or was unwilling to go to the expense of buying one. One of the county surveyors in our area did not confine his work to the county he was in, but regularly did surveying anywhere he could get business. The public had the impression that these persons were more qualified than licensed surveyors who were not county surveyors because they would not be the county surveyor otherwise. As a result, these unlicensed county surveyors generally had all the surveying business in their respective counties tied up so as to shut out licensed surveyors. Several county surveyors, licensed and unlicensed, claiming to be public officials, had their offices in the courthouse, rent-free, and the taxpayers paid their telephone and utility bills to boot; yet they did absolutely nothing for the public.

Official Code of Georgia Annotated, § 36-7-2(c), enacted in 1988, provides that unlicensed county surveyors are limited to providing services for his or her county and may not engage in the private practice of surveying.

I have not noticed any problems or heard any complaints about the office of county surveyor in several years beyond the fact that taxpayers' money is wasted in conducting elections for the office.

I am curious as to whether there are any unlicensed county surveyors still around in Georgia today?

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 18:49:38 GMT

About 4 years ago, I initiated the process of eliminating the office of County Surveyor here in Monroe County. I had held the office for a couple of terms but it was an absolute waste of money for the county. The title sounds good to folks who don't know anything about it, but my conscience wouldn't let me continue wasting the county's money on the election process for the position. The next year we were able to abolish the post.

Fri, 30 Dec 2022 13:28:06 GMT

White County has a long history of County Surveyors. The earliest of record is from the early 1950's. All the County surveyors since then were registered until about 1980. White County surveyor now has held the position since 1980 and is unregistered. We have followed his work for years and have found no problems. He also stores old plats from previous County surveyors and is a great resource for un-recorded plats. The County does not supply him with anything. Most of the families of these men that have served still live in White County and these men were well known in the community. I know the "County Surveyor" has received a bad reputation (some for good reason I am sure) but that is not the case in White County, and I hope the County continues to have this as an elected office.

Thu, 5 Jan 2023 02:06:10 GMT

In most counties that no longer have a county surveyor, the county surveyor records have been deposited in the Probate Court. In some counties the records have been deposited to the Office of Clerk of Superior Court. In Chatham County, where I presently live, until about the 1970s, the county surveyor office acted practically in the same capacity as the clerk's office in serving as a plat repository. Attorneys and others often did not bother to record, in the clerk's office, plats made by the county surveyors. Instead, for the deeds they drew up, they listed the places of recording in the county surveyor's records. The county surveyor's office was in the courthouse, so, until later on, it was not an inconvenience as far as accessing the plats.

Besides deeds that refer to plats in the Chatham County surveyor's records, there were two general inventories of the county records made--one in 1875 and the other in 1941. These sources list a "County Surveyor Plat Book A", 1,500 additional loose plats, and some other types of plat records, in the office, going back to the 1770s. All of these records disappeared about the 1970s. The person who held the office of Chatham County surveyor from 1942 to 1983 was licensed, he had his office in the courthouse, rent-free, and the taxpayers paid his telephone and utility bills. The story later told by one of his employees is that he was sued for messing up a property boundary and part of the evidence used against him was a plat in his office made by one of his predecessors. As a result, this county surveyor destroyed all the plats in his office except the ones he made.

I moved to Chatham County in 1982. Initially, I did not know the above described background. When I had a reference in a deed to a plat in the county surveyor office, I would go there to get a copy. The county surveyor always informed me he did not have that particular plat. He would not allow me to consult whatever records were in his office. He died in 1983 and his family cleaned the office out before his successor was sworn in.

The loss of the Chatham County surveyor records has caused ongoing minor havoc. Some deeds give no further description of the property beyond listing a plat recorded in the county surveyor records. Law firms in Savannah have old title abstracts, some of which contain copies of plats that were in the Chatham County surveyor's office years ago. This publication:

United States. Works Projects Administration. Georgia Writers' Project. Historical Map Collection Early Georgia Plantations and the Township of Savannah, 1752-1871. Sponsored by the Georgia Society of the Colonial Dames of America. Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, 1942.

has tracings of a few very old plats that were in the Chatham County surveyor's office.

It is ironic that this county surveyor's office facilities were furnished to him rent-free by the taxpayers, yet he did not think enough of it to preserve the records of the office and make them available to the public.