Texas Board of Professional Land Surveying

Board Members Raul Wong, Chair (RPLS) David Dewhurst (GLO Commissioner) Greg Smyth (LSLS) Steven C. Hofer (Public) Daniel E. Martinez (RPLS) C. B. (Ben) Thomson, GLO Director of Surveying October 2002 Newsletter Kelley Neumann (Public) A.W. (Art) Osborn (RPLS) Robert L. Pounds (LSLS) Douglas W. Turner (RPLS) Joan White (Public) Sandy Smith, Executive Director

NEW BOARD MEMBER Governor Rick Perry announced the appointment of David Gregory (Greg) Smyth of Devine to the Board for a term to expire January 31, 2007. Mr. Smyth replaced Jerry Goodson. Mr. Smyth is the owner of D. G. Smyth & Co., a statewide land surveying service. He is both a Registered Professional Land Surveyor and a Licensed State Land Surveyor. He is a member and past president of the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors and was named Surveyor of the Year by the organization in 2000. In 1994, he received the societys award for community service. Mr. Smyth is also a member of the Surveyors Historical Society of Professional Surveyors and a former Dilley Independent School Board trustee. He attended Southwest Texas Junior College in Uvalde and Texas A&M University. BOARD HIRES INVESTIGATOR The Board has hired Garey Gilley to investigate complaints. The position is part-time and Mr. Gilley will conduct investigations from his hometown of Ft. Worth and make site investigations as needed. Mr. Gilley is a former Board member, a Registered Professional Land Surveyor and a Licensed State Land Surveyor. You may contact Mr. Gilley by email at garey.gilley@txls.state.tx.us NEW RULES Rule 663.18 (c) Effective March 13, 2002 Preliminary documents released from a surveyors control shall identify the purpose of the document, the surveyor of record and the surveyors registration number, and the release date. Such preliminary documents shall not be signed or sealed and shall bear the following statement in the signature space: "Preliminary, this document shall not be recorded for any purpose. Preliminary documents released from the surveyors control which include this text in place of the surveyors signature need not comply with the other minimum standards promulgated in this chapter. Rule 661.45 Effective March 13, 2002 (b) Calculators will be permitted to be used during any examination. Any non-communicating, silent, handheld, battery operated, nonprinting calculator will be permitted. Calculating and computing devices having a QWERTY keypad arrangement similar to a typewriter or keyboard are not permitted. Calculators/data collectors with alphanumeric keypads are permitted. No communication/imaging device of any type will be permitted, including but not limited to pagers and cellular phones. 2003 RENEWALS Pursuant to the 77th Legislature R.S., Article IX-93, Section 10.40, SB 187 and SB 645, an additional fee has been added to the annual renewal fee. This additional fee is being charged to each Registered Professional Land Surveyor to cover service costs for an electronic occupational license renewal system. The Renewal fee to practice in 2003 will be $150.00. Eligible Registered Surveyors will be able to renew their license online using a credit card (Visa, MasterCard or Discover) or electronic check. Instructions for this service will appear on your renewal form and can be found at: www.texasonline.com

Registrations expire on December 31, 2002. If you fail to renew prior to December 31, any practice after that date will be subject to disciplinary action and a maximum penalty of $1500 for each occurrence. SUNSET RECOMMENDATIONS The Sunset Commission approved all recommendations made by staff and two new issues. The approved recommendations: 1. Advisory committees will replace exam committees and the Board will adopt rules regarding their form and use. 2. The Board will adopt rules regarding the enforcement process. The process will require that staff investigate and recommend sanctions to the Board. The Board will approve final sanctions. 3. A collection of 'house cleaning' type requirements; for conformity with model licensing standards. 4. Continue the Board for 12 years. New issues adopted: 5. The Board should jointly sponsor educational seminars with the General Land Office and develop study guides designed to increase the number of Licensed State Land Surveyors. 6. To protect licensees who were the subject of unwarranted complaints, allow the Board to keep unfounded complaints from being disclosed to the public. During the next legislative session, the Sunset Commission will sponsor a Bill to implement the recommendations. Additional information regarding the recommendations can be found on the Boards website www.txls.state.tx.us COMPLAINTS AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS The Board received 36 complaints in Fiscal Year 2002 (September 1, 2001 through August 31, 2002). 9 Assurances of Voluntary Compliances were issued with penalty fees ranging from $350 to $375. Assurances of Voluntary Compliance are offered when evidence of minor violations of the minimum standards are found. Penalty fees are determined by using criteria contained in Section 23A of the Professional Land Surveying Practices Act. 2 Reprimands were issued with penalty fees of $1,000 each. Complaint 02-19 resulted in a Reprimand and a $1,000 penalty fee, violations of Rule 883.10 (4) were found. Complaint 02-21 resulted in a Reprimand and a $1,000 penalty fee, violations of Rules 663.17 and 663.19 (6) were found. The Board determined to revoke a registration after finding evidence that the surveyor was not supervising work that bore his seal and signature. A formal hearing will be scheduled to formalize the action. 11 Complaints were dismissed with no finding of violation and the remaining complaints have not been resolved as of the date of this publication.

Texas Board of Professional Land Surveying 7701 North Lamar, Suite 400 Austin, Texas 78752

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