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rs-title-50•Title 50 — Surveys and Surveyors
The terms defined in this Section have the following meaning when found in this Chapter:
(1) "Deprecation" means a decision to discontinue the use of a specific unit or method of measurement.
(2) "Geodetic coordinate" means angular coordinates defined relative to a particular geodetic datum including but not limited to latitude, longitude, ellipsoid height, orthometric height, or dynamic height.
(3) "Geodetic datum" means the geometric models representing the earth's size and shape that provide abstract coordinate systems with a reference surface or origin and orientation that serves to provide known locations to begin surveys and create maps, also referred to as a terrestrial reference frame or reference frame.
(4) "International foot" means the length adopted in 1959 to define the unit of measurement equal to 3,048/10,000 meter.
(5) "Meter" means the length traveled by light in a vacuum during a time interval of exactly 1/299,792,458 seconds.
(6) "National Spatial Reference System" means the consistent coordinate system maintained by the National Geodetic Survey that defines latitude, longitude, height, scale, gravity, and orientation throughout the United States, including an accurate national shoreline; a set of models that describes geophysical processes that affect spatial measurements; and networks of permanently marked points and continuously operating reference stations (CORS) to support three-dimensional positioning activities.
(7) "NATRF2022" means the North American Terrestrial Reference Frame of 2022.
(8) "State plane coordinate system" means the system of conformal map projections created by the National Geodetic Survey to support surveying, engineering, and mapping activities throughout the United States.
(9) "U.S. survey foot" means the length adopted by the United States government in 1893 to define the unit of measurement equal to 1,200/3,937 meter.
(10) "Zone" means a geographic region on the surface of the earth with a uniquely defined projected coordinate reference system, with extents usually based on a specified maximum linear distortion magnitude.
Acts 1985, No. 913, §1; Acts 2024, No. 626, §2.
A. The official geodetic datums for geodetic coordinates referenced within the state shall be as defined by the National Spatial Reference System established by the National Geodetic Survey of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or its successors.
B.(1) The official state plane coordinate system for defining and stating the positions or locations of points on the surface of the earth within the state is the most recent version of the state plane coordinate system for Louisiana based on the National Spatial Reference System established by the National Geodetic Survey and shall be known as the "Louisiana Plane Coordinate System".
(2) For the purpose of using the Louisiana Plane Coordinate System, the state is divided into three projection zone layers designated as the North Zone, the South Zone, and the Statewide Zone, the areas of which are as follows:
(a) The area now included in the following parishes shall constitute the North Zone: Avoyelles, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, DeSoto, East Carroll, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, and Winn.
(b) The area now included in the following parishes extending to the coastal boundary of Louisiana shall constitute the South Zone: Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemine, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana.
(c) The area now included in the areas of the North Zone and South Zone shall constitute the Statewide Zone.
(3) For purposes of defining more precisely the Louisiana Plane Coordinate System, the following definitions are adopted:
(a) The "Louisiana Plane Coordinate System North Zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the National Spatial Reference System NATRF2022 or its successors, having a central parallel at north latitude 31 degrees 54 minutes 00 seconds, along which parallel the scale shall be 0.999 93 (exact). The origin of the North Zone is at the intersection of the meridian 92 degrees 30 minutes west longitude and the parallel 31 degrees 54 minutes 00 seconds north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: x (east) = 495,300 meters and y (north) = 190,500 meters.
(b) The "Louisiana Plane Coordinate System South Zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the National Spatial Reference System NATRF2022 or its successors, having a standard parallel at north latitude 30 degrees 00 minutes 00 seconds, along which parallel the scale shall be 0.999 93 (exact). The origin of the South Zone is at the intersection of the meridian 91 degrees 30 minutes 00 seconds west longitude and the parallel 30 degrees 00 minutes 00 seconds north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: x (east) = 609,600 meters and y (north) = 190,500 meters.
(c) The "Louisiana Plane Coordinate System Statewide Zone" has statewide coverage. It is a Hotine Oblique Mercator projection of the National Spatial Reference System NATRF2022 or its successors, having a north latitude of 31 degrees 00 minutes 00 seconds and a west longitude of 91 degrees 30 minutes, 00 seconds and a skew azimuth of -68 degrees 00 minutes 00 seconds at that point, and the skew axis scale shall be 0.999 8 (exact). This origin is given the coordinates: x (east) = 914,400 meters and y (north) = 381,000 meters.
C. The provisions of this Section shall not be construed to prohibit the appropriate use of other datums or geodetic reference networks when required and appropriate.
Acts 1968, No. 299, §1; Acts 1985, No. 913, §1; Acts 2024, No. 626, §2.
A. The plane coordinates used to express the position or location of a point on the earth's surface within an appropriate plane coordinate system zone shall consist of two distances which shall be expressed in meters and decimals of a meter or in feet and decimals of a foot. One of these distances, to be known as the East or X-coordinate, shall give the distance east of the Y-axis; the other distance, to be known as the North or Y-coordinate, shall give the distance north of the X-axis. The Y-axis of any zone shall be parallel with the central meridian of that zone. The X-axis of any zone shall be at right angles to the central meridian of that zone.
B. When the values are expressed in feet, the U.S. survey foot shall be used as the standard foot for the Louisiana Plane Coordinate System.
Acts 1985, No. 913, §1; Acts 2024, No. 626, §2.
For purposes of describing the location of any point in the state of Louisiana, it shall be considered a complete, legal, and satisfactory description of such location to give the position of a survey station or land boundary corner on the system of plane coordinates defined in this Chapter.
Acts 1985, No. 913, §1; Acts 2024, No. 626, §2.
Nothing contained in this Chapter shall require a purchaser or mortgagee to rely on a description which depends exclusively upon a particular state plane coordinate system.
Acts 1985, No. 913, §1; Acts 2024, No. 626, §2.
When any tract of land to be defined by a single description extends from one zone into another, the positions of all points on its boundaries may be referred to either of the two zones, but the zone which is used shall be specifically named in the description.
Acts 1985, No. 913, §1; Acts 2024, No. 626, §2.
A. The Louisiana Coordinate System of 1927 was deprecated beginning December 31, 1995, and the Louisiana Coordinate System of 1983 will be deprecated upon the National Geodetic Survey's release of the National Spatial Reference System of 2022. The previously adopted definitions for these deprecated systems are retained.
B. Zones. For these deprecated systems, the state was divided into a North Zone, a South Zone, and an Offshore Zone as follows:
(1) The area now included in the following parishes shall constitute the North Zone: Avoyelles, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, DeSoto, East Carroll, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, and Winn.
(2) The area now included in the following parishes shall constitute the South Zone: Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemine, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana.
(3) The area now included in that area of the Gulf of Mexico defined as being within two hundred miles of the state of Louisiana shall constitute the Offshore Zone.
C. Definition of zones.
(1) For purposes of more precisely defining the Louisiana Coordinate System of 1927, the following definition by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, now National Ocean Service/National Geodetic Service, was previously adopted:
(a) The "Louisiana Coordinate System of 1927 North Zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the Clarke spheroid of 1866, having standard parallels at north latitudes 31 degrees 10 minutes and 32 degrees 40 minutes, along which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of coordinate is at the intersection of the meridian 92 degrees 30 minutes west of Greenwich and the parallel 30 degrees 40 minutes north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: x = 2,000,000' and y = 0', as now defined.
(b) The "Louisiana Coordinate System of 1927 South Zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the Clarke spheroid of 1866, having standard parallels at north latitudes 29 degrees 18 minutes and 30 degrees 42 minutes, along which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 91 degrees 20 minutes west of Greenwich and the parallel 28 degrees 40 minutes north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: x = 2,000,000' and y= 0', as now defined.
(2) For purposes of more precisely defining the Louisiana Coordinate System of 1983, the following definition by the National Ocean Service/National Geodetic Service was previously adopted:
(a) The "Louisiana Coordinate System of 1983 North Zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the North American Datum of 1983, having standard parallels at north latitudes 31 degrees 10 minutes and 32 degrees 40 minutes, along which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 92 degrees 30 minutes west of Greenwich and the parallel 30 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: x = 1,000,000 meters and y = 0 meters.
(b) The "Louisiana Coordinate System of 1983 South Zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the North American Datum of 1983, having standard parallels at north latitudes 29 degrees 18 minutes and 30 degrees 42 minutes along which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 91 degrees 20 minutes west of Greenwich and the parallel 28 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: x = 1,000,000 meters and y = 0 meters.
(c) The "Louisiana Coordinate System of 1983 Offshore Zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the North American Datum 1983, having standard parallels at north latitudes 26 degrees 10 minutes and 27 degrees 50 minutes, along which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 91 degrees 20 minutes west of Greenwich and the parallel 25 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: x = 1,000,000 meters and y = 0 meters.
Acts 1985, No. 913, §1; Acts 2024, No. 626, §2.
A. Accuracy requirements for surveys and maps purporting to define the position of a point shall be those expressed in the Standards of Practice for Boundary Surveys promulgated by the Louisiana Professional Engineering and Land Surveying Board or its successor. No survey or map purporting to define the position of a point shall be presented for recordation in any public land records or deed records unless they comply with these accuracy requirements.
B. Accuracy requirements for mapping shall be those expressed in the United States National Map Accuracy Standards or its successor unless the project specifically calls for the use of another standard, in which case the alternative standard shall be clearly stated on the map or document.
Acts 1985, No. 913, §1; Acts 2024, No. 626, §2.
The state Department of Transportation and Development is designated as the authorized state agency to administer the provisions of this Chapter, to collect and distribute information, and generally to advise with and assist appropriate state and federal agencies and individuals interested in the development of the provisions of this Chapter.
Acts 1968, No. 299, §1; Acts 1985, No. 913, §1; Acts 2024, No. 626, §2.
Use of the terms "Louisiana Coordinate System of 1927", "Louisiana Coordinate System of 1983", and "Louisiana Plane Coordinate System" on any map, report of a survey, or other document shall be limited to coordinates based on the coordinate systems defined in this Chapter.
Acts 1968, No. 299, §2; Acts 1985, No. 913, §1; Acts 2024, No. 626, §2.
Repealed by Acts 2024, No. 626, §3.
Any person employed in the execution of a survey authorized by the Congress of the United States may enter upon lands within the state for the purpose of doing any work which may be necessary to carry out the object of then existing laws relative to surveys, and may establish permanent station marks, and erect the necessary signals and temporary observatories.
The person making use of the authority conferred in R.S. 50:61 is liable for any damage caused by the entry on the land or by the work done.
If the parties interested cannot agree upon the amount to be paid for damages caused by the entry or by the work done, either of them may petition the district court in the parish in which the land is situated to settle the issue. The court shall appoint a time to hear the parties and their witnesses and shall assess damages.
If there has been a tender of damages to the injured party by the party entering the land, the injured party shall bear the costs of the suit if the damages finally assessed by the court do not exceed the amount tendered. If the damages assessed by the court are more than the amount tendered, the party entering upon the land shall bear the costs.
Any person who wilfully defaces, injures, or removes any property of the United States coast and geodetic, or geological, or other survey, constructed or used by virtue of an act of Congress referred to in R.S. 50:61 shall be fined not less than ten dollars nor more than fifty dollars for each offense and shall be liable in a civil action for damages sustained by the United States in consequence thereof.
The Register of the State Land Office may cause surveys and resurveys to be made, in order to establish or re-establish township lines, range lines, section lines, corners, and half-mile stations, where the original monuments have been destroyed or lost or are uncertain, or where the lines, corners, or stations were never actually established.
The Register of the State Land Office may, from time to time, procure necessary field notes, where any exist from actual surveys, and may employ one or more competent surveyors and the necessary helpers, in order to make any survey or re-survey authorized by this Chapter.
Upon petition of any individual owning land in any township, or section thereof, which has never been surveyed or which has been only partially surveyed or in which the lines or corners have become obliterated or are uncertain, in whole or part, the Register of the State Land Office shall, after giving written notice to the other record owners of land in the area in need of surveying so that they may attend if they desire, proceed without delay to have the township surveyed or re-surveyed and a map made showing township and section lines and corners and half-mile stations. The landowner petitioning for the survey shall bear the expense thereof.
The Register of the State Land Office may charge to landowners desiring a survey or re-survey its actual cost and expense, including the cost and expense of establishing or re-establishing the lines, corners, and half-mile stations and the cost of appropriate permanent markers, monuments, or witnesses.
In making re-surveys under the provisions of this Part, the surveyor shall, as nearly as possible, re-establish the original lines of any prior survey made under United States or state authority. In all townships or portions of townships where no survey has been made, the surveyor, in surveying or platting the township or portion thereof, shall make it conform as nearly as practicable to the lots and sections indicated upon the plats according to which the lands were granted by the state or by the United States.
In all cases where the Register of the State Land Office has caused a township, or one or more sections thereof, to be surveyed or resurveyed, field notes of this survey and the map or plat thereof shall be filed in the State Land Office. When the survey or re-survey and the maps or plat thereof are approved by the Register of the State Land Office, they shall be the official survey and map or plat of the township or section or sections thereof.
Whenever the register of the State Land Office approves a survey, whether it be an original survey or a re-survey, and whether or not a prior survey had theretofore been approved, he shall file a certified copy of the proces verbal of the survey, showing his approval and embracing all field notes, and a certified copy of the map or plat of the survey, with the clerk of court and ex-officio recorder of the parish in which the area covered by the survey is situated; and the clerk shall record this proces verbal in the records of his office. The originals, with the approval by the Register of the State Land Office, shall be filed in the State Land Office.
All surveys or re-surveys, and the plats thereof, approved by the Register of the State Land Office, are binding on all parties, and copies thereof, certified by the clerk of court or by the Register of the State Land Office, are conclusive evidence of the correctness thereof in any court. No court may set aside any such approved survey, re-survey, or plat except in a direct action brought for that purpose on the ground of fraud or gross error in the making of the survey. If a survey is set aside in this manner, a re-survey may be made as provided in this Chapter. Only the executive department of the government may make and correct surveys or re-surveys approved by the Register of the State Land Office. No court shall alter or amend in any way any part of an approved survey or re-survey or the plat thereof.
Any parish, except the Parish of Orleans, may procure necessary field notes from any previous survey and may employ one or more competent surveyors to survey or re-survey and establish or reestablish township lines, range lines, section corners, and half-mile stations where these have never been surveyed or established or where the original witness trees have been destroyed or lost.
Upon the petition of landowners owning more than fifty per cent of the land in a township which has never been wholly surveyed or the lines of which are obliterated or destroyed, the governing authority of the parish in which the township is situated shall immediately have the township surveyed and a map made thereof.
Except in the situation referred to in R.S. 50:152, the governing authority of the parish may appropriate money out the general fund of the parish to defray the expenses of the survey or resurvey and of the establishing or re-establishing of the lines, corners, and half mile stations with cement, cast iron, or other permanent material. In the situation set out in R.S. 50:152, the landowners petitioning for the survey shall bear its cost.
In making his survey, the surveyor shall, as nearly as possible, re-establish the original lines of any prior survey made under United States or state authority. Where no survey has been made, the surveyor, in surveying and platting a township, shall make his survey conform, as nearly as practicable, to the lots and sections as indicated on the plats according to which the lands were sold by the state or by the United States. Nothing in this Section affects the articles of the Louisiana Civil Code relating to boundaries.
When the governing authority of the parish approves a survey under the provisions of this Part, whether it is an original or a re-survey, and whether or not a survey had theretofore been approved, it shall file a certified copy of the resolution approving the survey, the proces verbal of the survey, embracing all field notes, and a tracing or blue print map of the actual survey of the township with the clerk of court and ex-officio recorder of the parish in which the township is situated, and he shall record all of them in the records of the parish. The governing authority of the parish shall also file similar documents with the Register of the State Land Office.
After the governing authority of the parish has approved a survey under this Part, it shall establish appropriate markers made of some permanent material on the lines, corners, or half-mile stations covered by the survey.
Wherever, under the provisions of this Part, a boundary line between two or more parishes is involved, the survey affecting that line shall be approved, in accordance with the provisions of this Part, by the governing authorities of all the parishes affected by the survey before it becomes official and legal.
A. The state land office shall establish, promulgate, and maintain appropriate standards for a statewide land information mapping and map records system of all lands, private and public, within the state of Louisiana to promote and ensure compatibility, uniformity, and cost-effectiveness by public entities. These standards shall be developed to include the establishment of appropriate photogrametric or electronic mapping techniques and procedures which efficiently accommodate land information collection, maintenance, sharing, and retrieval. The department shall adopt these standards by rules adopted pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act prior to January 1, 1991.
B. The standards required by Subsection A shall be employed by every parish governing authority or tax assessor undertaking the development of a land information mapping and map records system to assure that the assessment rolls of the parish contain a complete list of all taxable property. Only parish and tax assessor land information mapping and map records systems complying with these standards shall be eligible for state financial aid.
C. Information contained in the land information system shall not constitute or be considered as a legal representation of immovable property.
Acts 1989, No. 192, §1; Acts 2018, No. 242, §3.
A. The division of administration, office of state lands, shall provide technical assistance and advice to local governmental units and assessors in the development of land information mapping and records systems and the implementation of the state standards established under R.S. 50:171.
B-D. Repealed by Acts 1997, No. 1116, §2.
Acts 1991, No. 955, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1116, §§1, 2.
The office of state lands shall have the authority to promulgate and adopt such additional standards and upgrade existing standards regarding land information and records systems by rules adopted pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.
Acts 1991, No. 955, §1.
Controls for all surveys shall be determined in the National Spatial Reference System or its successors. All measurements shall be referenced to local control stations of the National Spatial Reference System or its successors, specifically the public domain Louisiana State University Continuously Operating Reference Stations network or other reference stations currently approved by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration National Geodetic Survey, such as benchmarks, monuments, or continually operating reference stations.
Acts 2006, No. 194, §1; Acts 2024, No. 626, §2.
A. Parish land information mapping and records system programs may be initiated by either the parish government or by the parish office of the assessor.
B. Each parish government or assessor may either establish a parish land information office, or the functions and duties of the land information office may be directed to be performed by an existing parish department or by the office of the assessor.
C. The duties of the parish land information office shall include:
(1) The coordination of land information projects within the parish, between the parish and local government units, between the state and local governmental units, among local governmental units, the federal government, and the private sector.
(2) The establishment of a land information systems advisory user committee.
(3) The identification of possible program revenue sources for the initial development and future maintenance of the parish land information mapping and records system.
(4) The preparation of an implementation plan, setting forth the time schedule, the estimated total cost, and an annual budget for developing a parishwide land information mapping and records system.
(5) Applying for state financial aid, when available, from the office of state lands.
Acts 1991, No. 955, §1.
Whenever the governing authority of any parish desires to ascertain and fix the boundary line of any adjoining parish, it shall pass an ordinance to that effect fixing a time and place for starting the running of the boundary. It shall then serve the presiding officer of the governing authority of the adjoining parish with a copy of the ordinance and with notice, at least six months in advance, of the time and place of starting the running of the boundary.
The surveyors appointed for that purpose, or, if there were none specifically appointed, the parish surveyors of both parishes shall, at the time fixed, proceed to the running and marking of the boundary line. If the surveyor of either parish fails to attend at the time and place fixed, the other surveyor shall wait two days and if the first does not arrive within that time shall proceed to the running and marking of the boundary line.
After a boundary line has been run and marked as prescribed in R.S. 50:221, due return of the survey shall be made to the presiding officer of the governing authority of each parish and he shall have it filed and preserved in the office of the recorder.
Repealed by Acts 1968, No. 155, §1
Repealed by Acts 1972, No. 353, §1
Any parish governing authority may contract for an aerial survey and mosaic map of its parish. This survey and map shall be drawn to scale and shall show range and township reference, township lines, section lines, and such other general information incidental and necessary to the survey and map as may be required by the parish governing authority and as is set out in the contract for the survey and mosaic map. Each section shall be completely numbered.
The cost of the contracted obligation incurred incidental to the survey and mosaic map as required in R.S. 50:225 shall be paid for by all tax recipient bodies in the parish in the proportion that each shares in tax monies collected and allotted from ad valorem taxes collected. The governing authority of the parish and the various tax recipient bodies who share in the tax monies may either appropriate money out of their general fund or pledge and dedicate its revenues and issue obligations to meet its share of the obligations incurred incidental to the survey and mosaic map.
Amended by Acts 1954, No. 643, §1.
When an aerial survey and mosaic map of the parish have been approved by the governing authority of the parish by a proper resolution, they are the official survey and mosaic map of the parish and shall be fully preserved in the parish archives.
Upon the completion of an aerial survey and mosaic map of the parish and the approval thereof by the parish governing authority, as provided in R.S. 50:227, the assessor of the parish shall compare the assessment roll of the parish with the mosaic map and shall include on that roll any taxable property or properties shown on the mosaic map but not shown on the assessment roll. The governing authority of the parish shall satisfy itself that the assessment roll of the parish contains a complete list of all taxable property in the parish, as shown by the mosaic map.
§§271 to 283 Repealed by Acts 1968, No. 155, §1; Acts 1968, No. 533, §9
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