09 LC 21
0367S
The
House Committee on Governmental Affairs offers the following substitute to
HB 72:
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to local
government, so as to repeal the provisions of law providing for county
surveyors; to amend Title 44 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to property, so as to delete numerous references to county surveyors; to provide
for the continuation in office of county surveyors who were elected to office
until the end of their current terms of office; to provide for the abolishing of
the offices of appointed county surveyors; to provide for related matters; to
provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Title
36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to local government, is
amended by repealing and reserving Chapter 7, relating to county surveyors, in
its entirety.
SECTION
2.
Said
title is further amended by revising subsection (b) of Code Section 36-3-26,
relating to compensation of land surveyor, notification of county authorities of
fee, and advisory committee, as follows:
"(b)
For the purpose of assisting the Secretary of State in connection with his
or
her responsibilities and duties to fix
and negotiate an appropriate fee for the services of the land surveyor in
surveying, marking out, and defining the boundary line in dispute, the Secretary
of State may appoint an advisory committee to be composed of three registered
land surveyors. One of the members of the advisory committee shall be a
county
registered
land surveyor who shall be selected by the
Secretary of State from a list of at least three
county
registered
land surveyors submitted to the Secretary
of State by the Association County Commissioners of Georgia. The members of the
advisory committee shall serve at the pleasure of the Secretary of State or for
such terms as the Secretary of State shall provide. The members of the advisory
committee shall receive no compensation for their services as
such."
SECTION
3.
Chapter
44 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to property, is amended
by revising subsection (b) of Code Section 44-1-15, relating to removal of
survey monuments prohibited, exceptions, and penalties, as follows:
"(b)
It shall be unlawful for any person willfully and knowingly to remove, destroy,
injure, or displace any geodetic control monument or property corner monument
except under the authority of the agency which originally set the monument or,
in the case of a property corner monument, under the authority of a registered
land surveyor
or duly
elected or appointed county surveyor
having the written permission of all landowners who are parties to said property
corner monument. In the case of a geodetic control monument, the record of any
authorized change shall be published; and, in the case of a property corner
monument, the record of any authorized change shall be filed for record in the
office of the clerk of the superior court of the county in which the monument is
located."
SECTION
4.
Said
title is further amended by revising Code Section 44-4-2, relating to
application for new survey and marking of lines and notice to owners of
adjoining lands, as follows:
"44-4-2.
Every
owner of land, any portion of which lies in any militia district even if the
remainder lies in an adjoining district or an adjoining county, who desires the
lines around his
or
her entire tract to be resurveyed and
re-marked shall apply to the processioners of the district to appoint a day when
a majority of them, along with
the
county
a registered
land surveyor, will trace and mark the
lines. Ten days' written notice of the time of the running and marking shall be
given to all the owners of adjoining lands if they are residents of this state;
and the processioners shall not proceed to run and mark the lines until
satisfactory evidence of the service of the notice is presented to
them."
SECTION
5.
Said
title is further amended by revising Code Section 44-4-3, relating to duty of
surveyor and processioners, preparation and certification of plat, delivery of
copy to applicant, evidentiary effect of plat, and admissibility, as
follows:
"44-4-3.
It
shall be the duty of the
county
surveyor and the processioners to take all
due precautions to arrive at the true lines and to trace out and plainly mark
the same. The
surveyor
processioners
shall make out and certify a plat of the true lines and deliver a copy thereof
to the applicant; and, in all future boundary disputes with any owner of
adjoining lands who had due notice of the processioning, the certified plat and
the lines so marked shall be prima facie correct; and the certified plat shall
be admissible in evidence without further proof."
SECTION
6.
Said
title is further amended by revising subsection (d) of Code Section 44-13-4,
relating to application for examinations, to whom made, contents, schedule of
property and list of creditors, effect of failure to comply, and survey, as
follows:
"(d)
The applicant shall apply to the judge of the probate court for an order
to the
county surveyor or, if there is none, to some
other
for
a surveyor to lay off any real property of
the applicant and to make a plat of the same, which order the judge shall issue
at once and give to the applicant."
SECTION
7.
Said
title is further amended by revising Code Section 44-13-5, relating to survey of
lands in different county, as follows:
"44-13-5.
Whenever
the applicant does not possess a sufficient amount of realty located in the
county of
his
such
applicant's residence, he
or
she may include in his
or
her application tracts of land located in
counties other than that of
his
such
applicant's residence. In such case, the
judge of the probate court before whom the application is made shall cause the
survey, valuation, and plat of the lands lying in counties other than the
residence of the applicant to be made by
the
county
a registered
land surveyor of the county where the
lands are located."
SECTION
8.
Said
title is further amended by revising Code Section 44-13-10, relating to survey
of exempted real property, affidavit of surveyor, return to probate court,
objection to survey, and failure of surveyor to comply as contempt, as
follows:
"44-13-10.
(a)
The surveyor to whom the applicant delivers the order pursuant to subsection (d)
of Code Section 44-13-4 shall lay off the exempted real property on or out of
the land claimed by the applicant and make a plat of the same and shall make an
affidavit that the exempted real property is correctly platted and laid off and
setting out its value.
He
Such
surveyor shall return the affidavit to the
judge of the probate court at least five days before the day appointed in the
order for passing upon the application.
(b)
It shall be a valid ground of objection to the propriety of any survey that it
has been so made as to injure unjustly or needlessly the value of any land left
unexempted by a disregard of the shape and location of the entire
tract.
(c)
Should any county surveyor fail to comply with his duty as prescribed by this
Code section, he shall be punished for a contempt of court by the judge of the
probate court."
SECTION
9.
Said
title is further amended by revising Code Section 44-13-102, relating to survey
and plat of exempted land, return to probate court, and recordation, as
follows:
"44-13-102.
Upon
an application by a debtor,
it shall be
the duty of the county surveyor or any other surveyor if there shall be no
county
the judge of
the probate court shall commission a registered
land surveyor to lay off the land allowed
to the debtor's family under this article and make a plat of the same, which
plat shall be returned to the judge of the probate court within 15 days after
the application is made to the surveyor by the debtor, and recorded as provided
for in Code Section 44-13-101."
SECTION
10.
Each
elected county surveyor who is in office on June 30, 2009, shall serve out the
term of office to which he or she was elected and shall have the powers and
fulfill the duties and responsibilities of the office as it existed immediately
prior to July 1, 2009, provided that, upon the conclusion of such person's term
of office, no further elections to fill such office shall be held and such
office shall be abolished. The office of each appointed county surveyor who is
in office on June 30, 2009, shall be abolished on July 1, 2009.
SECTION
11.
This
Act shall become effective on July 1, 2009.
SECTION
12.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.