republic-os/legal/us/code/title-43/chapter-3/section-52.md

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LegalText	43 U.S.C. § 52	Surveying duties	us	united_states_code	code_section	43	PUBLIC LANDS	3	SURVEYS	52	43 U.S.C. § 52	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc43@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t43/s52	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-43/usc43.xml	40b7f3e712d0cda59ce9b39e6536dc9698f8ec20e58a7b43fc96dfa76c28dd28	d46a16361aa9d10bbc4b27ea0561882d240801c965a2700a4b7cf5f02f552a5f	b32ddb16197ce17da5d12d1d82b53d75f0ef3cbc8b6195732c6ae00bedb92d2b	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

43 U.S.C. § 52 - Surveying duties

Text

The Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate shall engage a sufficient number of skillful surveyors as his deputies, to whom he is authorized to administer the necessary oaths upon their appointments. He shall have authority to frame regulations for their direction, not inconsistent with law or the instructions of the Bureau of Land Management, and to remove them for negligence or misconduct in office. Second. He shall cause to be surveyed, measured, and marked, without delay, all base and meridian lines through such points and perpetuated by such monuments, and such other correction parallels and meridians as may be prescribed by law or by instructions from the Bureau of Land Management, in respect to the public lands to which the Indian title has been or may be extinguished. Third. He shall cause to be surveyed all private land claims after they have been confirmed by authority of Congress, so far as may be necessary to complete the survey of the public lands. Fourth. He shall transmit to the officer, as the Secretary of the Interior may designate, of the respective land offices general and particular plats of all lands surveyed by him for each land district; and he shall forward copies of such plats to such officer as the Secretary may designate. Fifth. He shall, so far as is compatible with the desk duties of his office, occasionally inspect the surveying operations while in progress in the field, sufficiently to satisfy himself of the fidelity of the execution of the work according to contract, and the actual and necessary expenses incurred by him while so engaged shall be allowed; and where it is incompatible with his other duties for the Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate to devote the time necessary to make a personal inspection of the work in progress, then he is authorized to depute a confidential agent to make such examination; and the actual and necessary expenses of such person shall be allowed and paid for that service, and $5 a day during the examination in the field; but such examination shall not be protracted beyond thirty days; and in no case longer than is actually necessary; and when the Secretary or such officer, or any person employed in his office at a regular salary, is engaged in such special service, he shall receive only his necessary expenses in addition to his regular salary.

(R.S. § 2223; Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 462, 43 Stat. 1144; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Codification Provisions different from those of the fifth paragraph of this section, for inspection of surveying operations, were made by several Sundry Civil Appropriation Acts, in connection with the appropriations for surveys and resurveys, and limited to the expenditure of the particular appropriation. R.S. § 2223 derived from acts May 18, 1796, ch. 29, § 1, 1 Stat. 464; Apr. 29, 1816, ch. 151, § 1, 3 Stat. 325; Mar. 3, 1831, ch. 116, § 1, 4 Stat. 492; Mar. 3, 1853, ch. 145, §§ 3, 10, 10 Stat. 245, 247; Apr. 24, 1874, ch. 127, 18 Stat. 34; Aug. 9, 1876, ch. 256, 19 Stat. 126.

Statutory Notes and Executive Documents

Transfer of Functions References to Supervisor of Surveys and Commissioner of General Land Office changed to Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate, reference to manager changed to officer designated by Secretary of the Interior, and “Bureau of Land Management” substituted for “General Land Office” on authority of section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946. See note set out under section 1 of this title. Previously, references to surveyors general were changed to supervisor of surveys and provisions limiting application of section to points “within his surveying district” were omitted on authority of act Mar. 3, 1925, which abolished office of surveyor general and transferred its activities to Field Surveying Service under jurisdiction of United States Supervisor of Surveys.