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County surveyor urges overhaul of century‑old records and investment in GIS
Summary
Curry County surveyor Scott Fine warned of overlapping and conflicting corner and plat records stretching back to statehood, called for a proactive corner‑program funded under HB 3175, and urged investment in GIS staffing and data stewardship to reduce boundary disputes and support planning.
Scott Fine, Curry County surveyor, told commissioners the county’s survey and corner records have long‑standing indexing problems and overlapping/conflicting entries that make private‑sector surveying and land division risky. He said the county’s records were not indexed as state statute intended (ORS 209.92 and related requirements) and that work to bring records into conformance is ongoing.
Scott described the corner program as "borderline non‑existent" for about a decade and said resolving conflicting records is labor‑intensive; he cited a boundary dispute in which one surveyor found relevant records and another did not. He asked the Board to support proactive fieldwork on public land survey corners and noted the Board previously supported House Bill 3175 to increase fees so the county could run a program rather than do only a couple of corners per year.
He recommended improving road records, a centralized and funded GIS/data stewardship position, and pursuing ORMAP and other grants (where applicable) to rebuild mapping capacity. Scott told the Board that better GIS and indexed survey records would lower liability for title companies, encourage more private‑sector surveying, speed permitting and support emergency‑response mapping.
What’s next: Scott is continuing indexing and records work and asks the Board to prioritize funding for GIS stewardship and the corner program to accelerate record modernization.
Sources: remarks by Scott Fine and exchanges with commissioners at the April 1 workshop.
