Idaho Statutes

TITLE 55 PROPERTY IN GENERAL

CHAPTER 16 CORNER PERPETUATION AND FILING

55-1601.  SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the "Corner
Perpetuation and Filing Law."

55-1602.  DECLARATION OF POLICY. 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.

55-1603.  DEFINITIONS. Except where the context indicates a different
meaning, terms used in this chapter shall be defined as follows 
 (1)  An "accessory to a corner" is any exclusively identifiable physical 
object whose spatial relationship to the corner is recorded. Accessories 
may be bearing trees, bearing objects, monuments, reference monuments, line 
trees, pits, mounds, charcoal-filled bottles, steel or wooden stakes, or 
other objects. 
 (2)  "Adequate evidence of the existence of a land survey monument" means 
the visual presence of the monument or existence of a federal general land 
office or bureau of land management plat on which the monument appears, or 
a recorded corner perpetuation and filing form as provided in this chapter, 
or a record of survey filed in accordance with chapter 19, title 55, Idaho 
Code, on which the monument appears, or a subdivision plat filed in 
accordance with chapter 13, title 50, Idaho Code, on which the monument 
appears. 
 (3)  The "board" is the board of registration of professional engineers 
and professional land surveyors. 
 (4)  A "corner," unless otherwise defined, means a property corner, or a 
property controlling corner, or a public land survey corner, or any 
combination of these. 
 (5)  "Establish" means to determine the position of a corner either 
physically or mathematically. 
 (6)  A "monument" is a physical structure that occupies the exact position 
of a corner. 
 (7)  A "professional land surveyor" means any person who is authorized by 
the laws of this state to practice land surveying. 
 (8)  A "property controlling corner" for a property is a public land 
survey corner, or any property corner, which does not lie on a property 
line of the property in question, but which controls the location of one or 
more of the property corners of the property in question. 
 (9)  A "property corner" is a geographic point on the surface of the 
earth, and is on, a part of, and controls a property line. 
 (10) A "public land survey corner" is any point actually established and 
monumented in an original survey or resurvey that determines the boundaries 
of remaining public lands, or public lands patented, represented on an 
official plat and in the field notes thereof, accepted and approved under 
authority delegated by congress to the U.S. general land office and the 
U.S. department of interior, bureau of land management. 
 (11)  A "reference monument" is 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 which serves to witness the 
corner.

55-1604.  FILING REQUIREMENTS. A professional land surveyor shall
complete, sign, and file with the county clerk and recorder of the county
where the corner is situated, a written record of the establishment or
restoration of a corner. This record shall be known as a "corner record"
and such a filing shall be made for every public land survey corner and
accessory to such corner which is established, reestablished, monumented,
remonumented, restored, rehabilitated, perpetuated or used as control in
any survey. The survey information shall be filed within ninety (90) days
after the survey is completed, unless the corner and its accessories are
substantially as described in an existing corner record filed in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter.
 In lieu of filing as heretofore provided, corner records may be recorded
by photographic process in those counties which have such facilities.

55-1605.  FILING OR RECORDING. A professional land surveyor may file or
record any corner record as to any property corner, property controlling
corner, reference monument or accessory to a corner.

55-1606.  FILING OR RECORDING INFORMATION. The board shall, by regulation,
provide and prescribe the information which shall be necessary to be
included in the corner record and the board shall prescribe the form in
which such corner record shall be presented and filed or recorded.

55-1607.  COUNTY CLERK TO KEEP RECORD -- FEES. (a) The county clerk and
recorder of the county containing the corner shall receive the completed 
corner record and preserve it in the same manner as any other recorded 
instruments. Proper indexes shall be kept of such corner records by 
section, township and range. 
 (b)  The county clerk and recorder shall make these records available for 
public inspection during all usual office hours. 
 (c)  For purposes of determining the filing fee hereunder, the corner 
record shall be considered as a similar service to the filing or recording 
of instruments as provided in section 31-3205, Idaho Code. However, all 
corners, monuments and their accessories established prior to the effective 
date of this chapter, for which a written record is completed as required 
herein, and which are offered for filing or recording within six (6) months 
of the effective date of this chapter, shall be accepted and filed by the 
county clerk  without requiring the payment of fees therefor.

55-1608.  PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR TO RECONSTRUCT MONUMENTS. In every
case where a corner record of a survey corner is required to be filed or
recorded under the provisions of this chapter, the professional land
surveyor must reconstruct or rehabilitate the monument of such corner, and
accessories to such corner, so that it will be as permanent a monument as
is reasonably possible to provide and so that it may be located with
facility at any time in the future.
 Any monument set shall be permanently marked or tagged with the
certificate number of the professional land surveyor in responsible charge.
If the monument is set by a public officer, it shall be marked by an
appropriate official designation.

55-1609.  TO BE SIGNED BY PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR OR GOVERNMENT AGENT.
No corner record shall be filed or recorded unless the same is signed by a
professional land surveyor as defined herein, 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.

55-1611.  FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FILINGS WITHOUT FEES. All federal government
surveys performed by authorized personnel of agencies of the federal
government shall not be subject to the provisions of this chapter, except
that federal agencies may comply with the provisions of the chapter, and
shall be exempt from filing fees required in section 55-1607(c), Idaho
Code.

55-1612.  PENALTY. Professional land surveyors failing to comply with the
provisions hereof and professional engineers who prepare plans which do not 
indicate the presence of corners for which adequate evidence exists shall 
be deemed to be within the purview of section 54-1220, Idaho Code, and 
shall be subject to disciplinary action as in said section provided. Any 
person shall be subject to the penalties prescribed in section 54-1234, 
Idaho Code, if they prepare plans for the construction of any facility and 
construction of that facility results in the defacing, injury or removal of 
a monument, if the plans they prepare do not indicate the presence of a 
corner or corners for which adequate evidence exists.

55-1613.  MONUMENTS DISTURBED BY CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES -- PROCEDURE --
REQUIREMENTS. When adequate evidence exists as to the location of a public 
land survey corner, subdivision, tract, property, or other land corners, 
such monuments shall be referenced by or under the direction of a 
professional land surveyor prior to the time when construction or other 
activities may disturb them. Such corners shall be reestablished and 
remonumented by a professional land surveyor at the expense of the agency 
or person causing the loss or disturbance of monuments. Professional 
engineers who prepare plans which do not indicate the presence of corners 
for which adequate evidence exists shall be deemed to be within the purview 
of section 54-1220, Idaho Code, and shall be subject to disciplinary action 
as provided in said section. Any person shall be subject to the penalties 
prescribed in section 54-1234, Idaho Code, if they prepare plans for the 
construction of any facility and construction of that facility results in 
the defacing, injury or removal of a monument, if the plans they prepare do 
not indicate the presence of a corner or corners for which adequate 
evidence exists.