43-20-1      Purpose of chapter.
43-20-2      Definition of terms.
43-20-3      Record of corner establishment or restoration--Execution and filing.
43-20-4      Corner records which may be filed.
43-20-5      Survey corner required to be filed under chapter--Reconstruction of monument of corner.
43-20-6      Corners established or restored before July 1, 1967--Records may be filed.
43-20-7      Promulgation of rules.
43-20-8      Signatures required for filing of corner record.
43-20-9      Filing in accordance with chapter required.
43-20-10      Corner record--Filing fee.
43-20-11      Filing fees--Exemption of surveys by United States.
43-20-12      Completed corner record--Preservation in hardbound book--Numbering and indexing.
43-20-13      Inspection of corner records.
43-20-14      Citation of chapter.

43-20-1. Purpose of chapter.

It is the purpose of this chapter to protect and perpetuate public land survey corners and information concerning the location of such corners by requiring the systematic establishment of monuments and filing of information concerning the marking of the location of such public land survey corners and to allow the systematic location of other property corners, thereby providing for property security and a coherent system of property location and identification; and thereby eliminating the repeated necessity for reestablishment and relocations of such corners once they are established and located.

Source: SL 1967, ch 58, § 2.

43-20-2. Definition of terms.

Terms used in this chapter mean:

(1)    "Accessory to a corner," any exclusively identifiable physical object whose spatial relationship to the corner is recorded. The term includes bearing trees, bearing objects, monuments, reference monuments, line trees, pits, mounds, charcoal-filled bottles, steel or wooden stakes, or other similar objects;

(2)    "Board," the Board of Technical Professions;

(3)    "Corner," unless otherwise qualified, a property corner, a property controlling corner, or a public land survey corner;

(4)    "Monument," an accessory that is presumed to occupy the exact position of a corner;

(5)    "Property controlling corner," any corner that may or may not lie on a property line, but that controls the location for one or more property corners;

(6)    "Property corner," a geographic point that controls a property line;

(7)    "Public land survey corner," any corner established and monumented in an original survey or resurvey used as a basis of legal description for issuing a patent for the land to a private person from the state or federal government;

(8)    "Reference monument," a special monument that does not occupy the same geographical position as the corner itself, but whose spatial relationship to the corner is recorded and serves to witness the corner;

(9)    "Survey," any field operation in which corners are used to locate streets, roads, utilities, airports, railroads, buildings, dams, canals, drainage ways, or any other works as well as property boundaries;

(10)    "Registered land surveyor," a person who is licensed by the board and is in good standing and legally authorized to practice land surveying in this state.

Source: SL 1967, ch 58, § 3; SL 1982, ch 297, § 5; SL 1990, ch 309, § 4; SL 2019, ch 176, § 2.

43-20-3. Record of corner establishment or restoration--Execution and filing.

A surveyor shall complete, sign, and file with the register of deeds of the county where the corner is situated, a written record of corner establishment or restoration to be known as a "corner file" for every public land survey corner and accessory to the corner which is established, reestablished, monumented, remonumented, restored, rehabilitated, perpetuated, or used as control in any survey by the surveyor, and within ninety days thereafter, unless the corner and its accessories are substantially as described in an existing corner record filed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

Source: SL 1967, ch 58, §§ 4, 12; SL 1982, ch 297, § 1.

43-20-4. Corner records which may be filed.

A surveyor may file such corner record as to any property corner, property controlling corner, reference monument, or accessory to a corner.

Source: SL 1967, ch 58, § 5.

43-20-5. Survey corner required to be filed under chapter--Reconstruction of monument of corner.

In every case where a corner record of a public land survey corner is required to be filed under the provisions of this chapter, the surveyor must reconstruct or rehabilitate the monument of such corner, and accessories to such corner, so that the same shall be left by him in such physical condition that it remains as permanent a monument as is reasonably possible and so that the same may be reasonably expected to be found with facility at all times in the future.

Source: SL 1967, ch 58, § 8.

43-20-6. Corners established or restored before July 1, 1967--Records may be filed.

Corner records may be filed concerning corners established, reestablished, or restored before July 1, 1967.

Source: SL 1967, ch 58, § 10.

43-20-7. Promulgation of rules.

The board shall, by rule adopted pursuant to chapter 1-26, prescribe the method of construction and placement of corner markers or monuments used to identify reference points on plats and the information that is necessary to be included in the corner file. The board shall prescribe the form in which the corner record shall be presented and filed.

Source: SL 1967, ch 58, § 6; SL 1982, ch 297, § 2; SL 1986, ch 317, § 2; SL 1990, ch 309, § 4; SL 2019, ch 176, § 3.

43-20-8. Signatures required for filing of corner record.

No corner record shall be filed unless the same is signed by a registered surveyor, or, in the case of an agency of the United States government the certificate may be signed by the survey party chief making the survey.

Source: SL 1967, ch 58, § 9.

43-20-9. Filing in accordance with chapter required.

No filing shall be of any force or legal effect unless and until filed as provided in this chapter.

Source: SL 1967, ch 58, § 12.

43-20-10. Corner record--Filing fee.

The register of deeds of the county in which the corner is located shall charge a recording fee of ten dollars.

Source: SL 1967, ch 58, § 7 (c); SL 1983, ch 305, § 1; SL 1989, ch 380; SL 2012, ch 51, § 6.

43-20-11. Filing fees--Exemption of surveys by United States.

All filings relative to official cadastral surveys of the Bureau of Land Management of the United States of America performed by authorized personnel shall be exempt from filing fees.

Source: SL 1967, ch 58, § 11.

43-20-12. Completed corner record--Preservation in hardbound book--Numbering and indexing.

The county register of deeds of the county containing the corner shall receive the completed corner record and preserve it in a hardbound book. The books shall be numbered in numerical order and indexed by legal description showing section, township, and range (or addition, block, and lot).

Source: SL 1967, ch 58, § 7 (a); SL 1982, ch 297, § 3.

43-20-13. Inspection of corner records.

The register of deeds shall make these records available for public inspection during all usual office hours.

Source: SL 1967, ch 58, § 7 (b); SL 1982, ch 297, § 4.

43-20-14. Citation of chapter.

This chapter may be cited as the "Corner Perpetuation and Filing Act."

Source: SL 1967, ch 58, § 1.