Kluck, 051217 NDAGO, AGO 2017-L-3

• Case Date: May 12, 2017
• Court: North Dakota

Mr. Roger Kluck, President AGO 2017-L-3 Letter Opinion 2017-L-03 North Dakota Attorney General Opinions May 12, 2017          Mr. Roger Kluck, President          State Board of Registration for Professional          Engineers and Land Surveyors          PO Box 1357          Bismarck, ND 58502-1357          Dear Mr. Kluck:          Thank you for your letter requesting an Attorney General's opinion on whether N.D.C.C. § 43-19.1-30 makes it unlawful for a county recorder to file or record any map, plat, survey, or other document within the definition of land surveying, if the document does not include the personal signature and seal of a registered professional land surveyor who prepared it, even if the map, plat, survey, or other document is filed or recorded as an exhibit or attachment to another document being filed or recorded.          ANALYSIS Section 43-19.1-30, N.D.C.C., provides:

43-19.1-30. Duties of recorder. It is unlawful for the recorder of any county or any county or any proper public authority to file or record any map, plat, survey, or other document within the definition of land surveying which does not have impressed thereon and affixed thereto the personal signature and seal of a registered professional land surveyor by whom the map, plat, survey, or other document was prepared.1

         This law was originally passed by the Legislature in 1967.2 Only minor changes have been made to the law since then.^[3]          Recently, perhaps as the result of increased oil activity in the state, the North Dakota State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors became aware that some plats have been recorded, even though they did not include the signature and seal of a registered professional land surveyor. Some of these unsigned and unsealed survey plats were attached to easements as exhibits, with the plats providing land descriptions for the land covered by the easements.          The Board took its concern to the North Dakota County Recorders Association (Association). The response indicated that the...