CHAPTER 72. COUNTY BOUNDARIES - Texas Statutes

LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE

TITLE 3. ORGANIZATION OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT

SUBTITLE A. ORGANIZATION OF COUNTIES

CHAPTER 72. COUNTY BOUNDARIES

Sec. 72.001. BOUNDARY SURVEY; APPOINTMENT OF SURVEYOR. (a) If

a county court finds, or is notified by the commissioner of the

General Land Office, that the boundary or part of a boundary of

the county is not sufficiently definite, the county court shall

appoint an experienced and competent registered professional land

surveyor to conduct a survey of the boundary in question. The

surveyor shall make and establish the boundary lines and corners

in the manner prescribed by this chapter.

(b) In the order appointing the surveyor, the county court shall

designate the boundary lines to be run and the boundary corners

to be established and marked and shall conform to the law that

defined the boundaries of the county.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1091, Sec. 26, eff. Sept. 1,

1989.

Sec. 72.002. NOTICE TO ADJACENT COUNTY; APPOINTMENT OF

ADDITIONAL SURVEYOR. (a) A county court that orders a boundary

survey shall give notice of the survey to the county court of any

other county that has an interest in the boundary by sending a

copy of the order to the county court of that county. The notice

must be given before the 10th day before the date on which the

notified county court meets.

(b) The order must state the time and place for the beginning of

the survey. The day scheduled for the beginning of the survey

must be on or before the 20th day after the day on which the

notified county court meets.

(c) The notified county court shall appoint an experienced and

competent registered professional land surveyor to assist in the

survey of the boundary lines in question.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1091, Sec. 27, eff. Sept. 1,

1989.

Sec. 72.003. BOUNDARY MARKERS. (a) The initial corners of the

survey shall be designated by boundary markers.

(b) Only a post, a stone monument, or a mound may be used as a

boundary marker.

(c) A post used as a boundary marker must be of hewn cedar,

cypress, or bois d'arc. The post must be at least eight inches in

diameter and at least five feet in length and must be set in the

ground to a depth of at least three feet.

(d) A mound used as a boundary marker must be composed of stone

if the use of stone is practicable. If the use of stone is not

practicable, a mound may be composed of earth. A mound must be at

least two feet in height.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 72.004. DUTIES OF SURVEYOR; FIELD NOTES. (a) A surveyor

appointed under this chapter shall describe the initial corners

of the boundary lines on the boundary markers established at the

corners. The surveyor shall supervise the establishment of

additional boundary markers at one-mile intervals along the

boundary line.

(b) In the field notes of the survey, the surveyor shall

accurately describe all prominent natural objects that are

crossed by or are adjacent to the boundary lines under survey, as

well as the corners and lines of surveys on or near the

boundaries.

(c) After each boundary line in question is surveyed and marked,

the surveyor promptly shall return the field notes and map of the

survey to the county court that appointed the surveyor.

(d) The county clerk shall record the field notes and map and

shall deliver a certified copy of the notes and map to the

General Land Office.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 72.005. OATH AND BOND OF SURVEYOR. (a) Before performing

duties under this chapter, a surveyor must take the oath of

office prescribed by the constitution for appointed officers and

must execute a bond conditioned that the surveyor will faithfully

perform those duties.

(b) The bond must be in the amount of $1,000, must be payable to

the county judge or the judge's successors in office, and must

have two or more sureties who are approved by the county judge.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 72.006. PAYMENT OF EXPENSES. (a) The counties that have

an interest in the boundary lines in question shall divide the

expenses incurred in making the survey and establishing the

boundary markers in proportion to each county's frontage on the

line.

(b) A surveyor appointed under this chapter is entitled to

receive the actual expenses incurred in making the survey and any

fees for surveying services agreed on by the surveyor and the

counties.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 991, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1,

1993.

Sec. 72.007. EFFECT OF FAILURE OF APPOINTED SURVEYOR TO APPEAR.

If either of the surveyors appointed under Sections 72.001 and

72.002 is absent at the time and place scheduled for the

beginning of the survey, the surveyor who is present shall

conduct the survey alone and shall deliver the survey report to

the county court that appointed that surveyor. On approval by

that court, the report shall be recorded as evidence of the

boundary line in question and shall be treated as the true

boundary between the counties.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 72.008. EFFECT OF FAILURE TO AGREE ON BOUNDARY. (a) If

the surveyors appointed under Sections 72.001 and 72.002 fail to

agree on the boundary line in question between their respective

counties, they shall report to the commissioner of the General

Land Office the facts of the disagreement, with a full statement

of the questions at issue.

(b) The commissioner shall examine the disputed matter at once.

From the information maintained in the General Land Office, the

commissioner shall designate to the surveyors the line to be run,

stating at what specific point the surveyors shall begin and to

what specific point they shall run the line. In the instructions

to the surveyors, the commissioner shall adhere as closely as

possible to the line designated in the law that created the

county line. The instructions from the commissioner constitute

authority for the surveyors to run that line. After the survey

based on the commissioner's instructions, that line is the true

boundary between the counties.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

Sec. 72.009. SUIT TO ESTABLISH BOUNDARIES. (a) A county may

bring suit against an adjacent county to establish the common

boundary line. The suit must be brought in the district court of

a county in an adjoining judicial district whose boundaries are

not affected by the suit and whose county seat is closest to the

county seat of the county that brings the suit. The court shall

try the suit in the same manner in which it tries other suits.

(b) The district court has jurisdiction to determine where the

boundary line is located and may order the line to be re-marked

and resurveyed. The line established by the district court shall

be treated as the true boundary between the counties unless the

court determines that the line in question was established under

prior law. If the district court determines that the boundary

line has been established under prior law, the court shall

declare that line to be the true boundary between the counties

and shall have that line resurveyed and established as the

boundary.

(c) The commissioner of the General Land Office may not mark a

contested county line on the maps maintained by the land office

until a certified copy of the final judgment is filed in the land

office with a certified copy of the field notes of the boundary

line established by the judgment.

(d) The remedy provided by this section is in addition to any

other remedy prescribed by this chapter.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.