Agency Histories

"The Office of the County Surveyor is regulated and mandated by state law to perform diversified survey-related functions. These functions are to support and assist other county offices in their respective responsibilities while providing a valuable service to the general public. Some of our responsibilities are as follows:?1. Perform all boundary, topographical, and property surveys of county properties, parks, recreational facilities, engineering improvements, and land to be purchased and/or sold by/to Salt Lake County.?2. Maintain the accuracy and integrity of section corner and accessory monumentation in Salt Lake County. These monuments are the control used by the majority of surveys. Maintenance is continual and sometimes difficult due to road construction and subdivision development. 3. Reestablish any lost or obliterated section corner monuments. Original monuments were placed in the late 1800s and several are still in existence and in use today.?4. Preserve the location of section corner monuments by utilizing a global positioning system to establish State Plane Coordinates. We use the latest technology in survey equipment and procedures.?5. Establish and maintain an elevation bench mark system based on mean sea level datum.?6. Maintain current and historical rectified aerial photography maps of the county.?7. Maintain a depository and review process for plats of all surveys where property corner monuments were set to establish property boundaries. 8. Perform forensic surveys and recreate graphical depictions of crime scenes for law enforcement agencies.?9. Create and maintain a geographical mapping system denoting various voting, legislative, and school districts.?10. Develop a street centerline addressing system to assist the county in parcel identification, law enforcement response time, and verification of special project boundaries." (From "Government Services News," May 1997, issue 3, p. 12.) "The county surveyor must be a registered land surveyor. In counties where there is no elected surveyor or where the office is consolidated with another elected office, the county may contract with a registered land surveyor to do all surveying work for the county. Duties of the county surveyor include making land surveys ordered by the county commission or by the district court. Work of this official includes surveying for county roads, locating section corners, and preparing maps for the county and for county offices. The county commission may direct the county surveyor to perform engineering and architectural work if the surveyor and/or his staff are qualified and licensed to provide such services." (From "State and Local Government in Utah," 1992 ed., p. 228.)

The Salt Lake County Surveyor is a four-year publically elected position. This position was originally for two years. An oath of office and official bond are required for the office.