South Dakota · Land Surveyor seal requirements
South Dakota Land Surveyor seal requirements: size, wording, and the rule that sets them
As of
Land surveyors in South Dakota seal under SDCL § 36-18A-44 (Seal of licensees—Contents—Signature); ARSD 20:38:37:01 (Seals), administered by the South Dakota Board of Technical Professions. The rule allows “Land Surveyor” or “Licensed Land Surveyor” or “Registered Land Surveyor”. An outer circle with a diameter measuring at least one inch and no greater than two inches, and an inner circle with a diameter measuring five-eighths of the diameter of the outer circle.
The seal contents and dimensions live in SDCL § 36-18A-44. ARSD 20:38:37:01, the administrative rule usually cited for South Dakota seals, governs use of the seal and states neither contents nor size. The board's Blue Book on dlr.sd.gov is still the 2020 edition, though its § 36-18A-44 text matches the current statute.
South Dakota Land Surveyor seal
- Legend (any one)
- “Land Surveyor” · “Licensed Land Surveyor” · “Registered Land Surveyor”
- Diameter
- An outer circle with a diameter measuring at least one inch and no greater than two inches, and an inner circle with a diameter measuring five-eighths of the diameter of the outer circle.
- Expiration date
- Same statute and same four contents, with the title "Land Surveyor".(SDCL § 36-18A-44)
- Signature date
- Signature and date adjacent to or across the seal. § 36-18A-71 gives the requirement teeth: no register of deeds may file or record a map, plat, survey or other technical submission that does not have impressed on and affixed to it the personal signature, seal and date of the responsible land surveyor.(SDCL § 36-18A-44; § 36-18A-71)
- City on seal
- Same four exhaustive contents as the engineer's and architect's seals, with the title "Land Surveyor". No place of business — the only geographic element is the words "South Dakota".(SDCL § 36-18A-44)
- The statutory title is "Land Surveyor", optionally prefixed with Licensed or Registered.(SDCL § 36-18A-44)
- No register of deeds may file or record a map, plat, survey or other technical submission that does not have impressed on and affixed to it the personal signature, seal and date of the land surveyor responsible for it.(SDCL § 36-18A-71)
South Dakota land surveyor seal questions
Does a South Dakota surveyor seal say "Professional Land Surveyor"?▾
The statutory title is "Land Surveyor". Section 36-18A-44 names the four titles as Professional Engineer, Architect, Land Surveyor and Landscape Architect — the word "Professional" belongs to the engineer's title and is not part of the surveyor's. The only prefixes the statute offers are Licensed and Registered, so "Licensed Land Surveyor" and "Registered Land Surveyor" are available forms while "Professional Land Surveyor" is not one of the forms the statute gives. (SDCL § 36-18A-44)
What does a South Dakota land surveyor's plat need before recording?▾
Three things on the face of it, and the county checks. SDCL § 36-18A-71 provides that no register of deeds of any county may file or record any map, plat, survey, or other technical submissions within the definition of land surveying which does not have impressed thereon and affixed thereto the personal signature, seal, and date of a land surveyor by whom or under whose responsible charge and direct personal supervision it was prepared. The prohibition runs against the recorder, not merely against the surveyor, so a plat missing any one of the signature, the seal or the date is one the office may not accept — and § 36-18A-44 already requires the signature and the date to sit adjacent to or across the seal. (SDCL § 36-18A-71; § 36-18A-44)
Can a South Dakota engineer's seal cover land surveying work?▾
Only if the surveying title is on the seal. Section 36-18A-44 requires the appropriate title or combination of titles, and § 36-18A-36 lets the board license one person for two or more of professional engineer, architect, land surveyor and landscape architect — so a dual licensee may carry "Professional Engineer" and "Land Surveyor" together on one device. What a seal bearing only the engineer's title cannot do is satisfy § 36-18A-71, which lets a register of deeds record a map, plat or survey only on the signature, seal and date of the land surveyor responsible for it. (SDCL § 36-18A-44; § 36-18A-36; § 36-18A-71)