November 10, 1982

Mr. Kenneth R. Dewell 
State's Attorney 
Fall River County Courthouse 
Hot Springs, South Dakota 57747

Official Opinion No. 82-60

Authority of City Engineer to Prepare and Certify Plats of City Land

Dear Mr. Dewell:

You have requested an official opinion from this office based on the following:

QUESTION: 

Whether or not the Hot Springs City Engineer, who is not registered under SDCL 36-18, can prepare and certify plats of city land which plats are intended to be approved and recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds?

SDCL 43-18-1 (Supp. 1982) provides as follows: 

No survey of land or plat subdivision shall be legal unless made by a registered land surveyor.

SDCL 11-3-4 provides, inter alia, that: 

Every plat provided for in this chapter shall be certified by the registered land surveyor, and his official seal attached thereto as specified in §  36-18-27.1 as being in all respects correct, . . . 

No such plat may be recorded [in the office of the Register of Deeds] until all provisions of this section have been fully complied with.

As the above statutes make clear, only a land surveyor who has complied with the registration requirements of SDCL 36-18, or is exempt therefrom according to SDCL 36-18-7 (Supp. 1982), may prepare and certify plats. Therefore, it is my opinion that a city engineer who is not a registered land surveyor, or not exempt from the registration requirements noted above, may not prepare and certify plats of city land which are intended to be approved and recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark V. Meierhenry
Attorney General