Arkansas Land Surveying Law: The Framework
Arkansas Code Title 17, Chapter 48 is the primary law governing land surveying in the state. It defines land surveying as the practice of measuring and describing land boundaries, preparing maps and plats, and performing other professional services that require applying surveying principles to establish or confirm property boundaries.
Only a Licensed Land Surveyor (LLS) issued by the Arkansas State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Professional Surveyors (ASBEPLS) may legally sign and seal survey plats in Arkansas. Using someone who is not a licensed Arkansas LLS to survey your property produces a document that Arkansas courts and title companies will not recognize as authoritative.
The Public Land Survey System in Arkansas
Arkansas land is organized under the Public Land Survey System based on the Fifth Principal Meridian, which originates at a point near Helena, Arkansas in Phillips County where the Fifth Principal Meridian intersects its base line. The entire state is divided into townships and sections measured from this initial point.
This system means every parcel in Arkansas has a legal description that ties back to township, range, and section corners established by the original General Land Office surveys conducted from the 1820s through the 1880s. Your surveyor researches those original GLO plats, locates or reestablishes section corners, and then works inward to your specific parcel boundaries.
Boundary Disputes in Arkansas
When two property owners disagree about where their shared boundary lies, Arkansas law provides several paths forward. The most common is hiring a Licensed Land Surveyor to prepare a boundary survey. Courts in Arkansas treat a sealed survey plat as authoritative evidence of a boundary location.
If both neighbors can agree on a boundary location, they can execute a boundary line agreement and record it at the county circuit court clerk's office. This approach is faster and cheaper than litigation. If they cannot agree, boundary disputes in Arkansas are handled in circuit court as civil matters. A licensed survey is typically the most important piece of evidence.
Encroachment and Adverse Possession
Arkansas Code § 18-60-111 covers encroachment statutes. If a structure or improvement crosses a property line, the encroaching party may be required to remove it or pay compensation. Adverse possession in Arkansas requires the occupying party to demonstrate open, notorious, continuous, hostile, and exclusive use of the disputed land for seven years under Arkansas Code § 18-61-101. A survey is typically required to establish the claimed area.
Recorded Plats and Subdivision Rules
When land is divided into lots and sold as a subdivision, Arkansas law requires a plat to be prepared by a Licensed Land Surveyor, approved by county officials, and recorded in the circuit court clerk's office. Once recorded, a subdivision plat creates a legal description that all future conveyances in that subdivision reference. Buyers in platted subdivisions benefit from clearly defined lot lines set during the original platting process.
What Your Licensed Surveyor Can Do
An Arkansas LLS can establish or reestablish boundary lines, prepare plats for recording, provide legal descriptions for deeds, stake out construction setbacks, prepare elevation certificates, perform topographic surveys, and provide expert testimony in boundary dispute litigation. Their signed and sealed work product carries legal authority that self-prepared measurements or GIS data do not.
Find licensed surveyors by county at our Arkansas directory, where every listing is sourced from ASBEPLS records.