Legislature Passes Bills Affecting Professional Surveyors
Legal Surveys and Disturbing/Moving Boundary Monuments
With the assistance of Sen. Blake Doriot, PS, and members of the ISPLS Government Affairs Committee, and with support from other key legislators, the General Assembly in 2023 and 2024 passed and Gov. Eric Holcomb signed, several bills affecting the practice of surveying in Indiana.
In the 2022-2023 session, amendments to Indiana’s Statutes of Limitations (IC 34-11-2-11) and Legal Survey (IC 36-2-12-10) statutes were passed and signed into law. Although this took place over a year ago, many surveyors are not aware of the changes to the law.
IC 34-11-2-11 now provides that an action for the recovery of real property (i.e., an adverse possession claim) related to a line that was the subject of a Legal Survey must be commenced prior to the expiration of the 180-day appeal period for the Legal Survey.
A corresponding amendment to the Legal Survey statute states that the lines located and established thereunder are binding on all landowners affected and their heirs and assigns, including an affected landowner who claims title under a claim of adverse possession:
- that has not been filed in a court with jurisdiction; or
- with respect to which:
- a deed reflecting the adverse possession; or
- an affidavit under IC 36-2-11-19(a)(4);
has not been recorded in the office of the recorder of the county in which the property is located; as of the date the survey is entered into the legal survey record book under this section, unless an appeal is taken under section 14 of this chapter.
These changes taken together close a “loophole” in the Legal Survey process whereby an adjoiner could – years after the expiration of the Legal Survey appeal period and without ever having filed an appeal – defeat the results of a Legal Survey based on an old adverse possession claim. It was believed that such a situation ran contrary to the intent of the Legal Survey statute, which was to provide a means by which disputed boundaries could be resolved in perpetuity.
Another 2023 amendment to the Legal Survey statute IC 36-1-12-10 specifies that the following information must be included in the second notice of Legal Survey (which must be sent within 10 days after the Legal Survey is filed in the county surveyor’s legal survey record book):
- A legal survey has been performed of an adjoining property under this section.
- The plat of the legal survey was filed with the county surveyor for entry into the legal survey record book.
- The lines located and established under this section are binding on all landowners affected, as well as the landowners’ respective heirs and assigns, unless an appeal is taken under section 14 of this chapter.
- An appeal under section 14 of this chapter must be made to the circuit court of the county in which the surveyed property is located not later than one hundred eighty (180) days after the notice of filing.
- If the affected landowner has reason to believe that the landowner has a claim of title under adverse possession, the landowner must:
- file a claim in a court with proper jurisdiction; or
- record an affidavit under IC 36-2-11-19(a)(4) or a deed reflecting the claim of adverse possession in the office of the recorder of the county in which the property is located;
before the end of the applicable time period provided in subdivision (4) [180 days].
- (6) An affected landowner may not bring a claim of title under adverse possession against the state or a political subdivision.
The notice shall also include a legible copy of the plat of the legal survey.
Upon review of the forgoing, surveyors familiar with the Legal Survey statute will note that the appeal period – which used to be 90 days for an in-county owner and 1 year for an out-of-county owner – has now been standardized at 180 days regardless of where the owner resides. Also, until this amendment, the statute did not specify what information needed to be included in the notice.
In the most recent 2023-2024 session, a bill was passed making it a Class C infraction when someone intentionally disturbs or moves a boundary marker. These new sections to the Surveyor Registration Act (IC 25-21.5) provide a means by which landowners can seek relief when that occurs. They went into effect July 1. The related additions to the Indiana Code are as follows:
SECTION 1. IC 25-21.5-1-3.2 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2024]
Sec. 3.2. “Boundary marker” means a symbol, sign, or object placed by a: (1) professional surveyor; or (2) person acting under the direct supervision of a professional surveyor; for the purpose of demarking any point, course, or line in the boundary of a tract of land.
SECTION 2. IC 25-21.5-1-6.7 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2024]
Sec. 6.7. “Person” means the following: (1) An entity. (2) A corporation. (3) An individual. (4) A limited liability company. (5) A partnership.
SECTION 3. IC 25-21.5-13-1.5 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2024]
Sec. 1.5. (a) A person, not having an ownership interest in land, who knowingly or intentionally disturbs or removes a boundary marker on the tract of land commits a Class C infraction.
(b) In addition to the judgment awarded under IC 34-28-5-4, the court may order a person who violates subsection (a) to pay to the landowner the cost of reestablishing the boundary marker.
The surveying community and, more importantly, the public at large – since that is who we are ultimately serving – are fortunate that ISPLS has been able to successfully partner with the legislature to pass these very beneficial bills, in addition to a number of others over the last few years (Right of Entry, Statute of Repose, and amendments to the Definition of Surveying).
