Brief⁽¹⁾

H.B. 2222 changes the licensure qualifications and duties of land surveyors by requiring them, effective January 1, 2010, to have graduated from a college or university program, have at least four years of land surveying experience, and satisfactorily pass a land surveyor's examination. In lieu of those requirements, the bill allows licensure of a person who has at least ten years of land surveying experience or education or a combination of both and the passage of an exam. Current qualifications which sunset on January 1, 2010, include at least eight years of experience or education in land surveying or a combination of both as determined by the Board.

The bill also requires the county engineer, if not a licensed land surveyor and in the county surveyor's absence, to contract with a land surveyor to review and certify the survey. In the absence of a county land surveyor and county engineer, the bill allows the land surveyor, who conducted the survey, to file the report with the county road department office. The bill permits the Secretary of the State Historical Society to electronically file and retrieve the report. The bill also allows filing fees to be billed and paid periodically.

In addition, the bill authorizes reference measurements from triangulation stations maintained by the National Ocean Services/National Geodetic Survey or by using the state coordinate system to be utilized if permanent, nonvisible reference measurements are unavailable.

Finally, the bill creates a class C misdemeanor if a person removes, alters, damages, or destroys a United States public land survey corner or a related accessory without having a qualified land surveyor establish reference points as necessary to enable the restoration, reestablishment, or replacement of the corner or accessory.

Background

A representative from the Kansas Society of Land Surveyors, a prepared statement from Kansas State University at Salina, and an individual testified in support of the bill, stating that technological and equipment changes in the field of land surveying requires applicants to have a college or university education. A representative of the Department of Transportation testified in opposition to the bill, stating that the Department did not support changes in the present qualifications of applicants seeking licensure.

The House Committee on Governmental Organization and Elections amended the bill by requiring the county engineer, who is not a licensed land surveyor, to contract with a land surveyor for certification of the report.

According to the State Board of Technical Professions, the passage of H.B. 2222, as introduced, would have no fiscal impact.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext-bill.html.