Board fines surveyor $3,000 over multiple survey errors, will use consent order

The Tennessee Board of Examiners for Land Surveyors approved a $3,000 civil penalty on Feb. 19 after an expert reviewer identified multiple deficiencies in a recently recorded survey plat.

Legal counsel presented Complaint 2025056551, saying the respondent’s recorded survey (dated 07/31/2025) appeared to shift a neighbor’s northwest corner, convert a prior encroachment into the neighbor’s platted boundary, omit a recorded 30-foot easement and contain record-citation errors. The respondent acknowledged several mistakes and told the board a revised plat might be needed.

An expert reviewer summarized the case for the board and flagged a string of concerns: the absence of a vicinity map or descriptive location, a drawing that did not bear the respondent’s seal or a preliminary designation, omission of an apparent easement (allegedly at the client’s request), failure to verify the complainant’s frontage, and incorrect deed citations. According to the reviewer, those items together suggested the work fell below Tennessee’s minimum standards of practice.

"I definitely don't have any of them combined together. So I just recommend that you guys discuss if you think this is worthy of a letter of warning or a civil penalty or continuing education above and beyond what is required or a combination," the legal presenter told the board.

Board members pressed on the most serious items. Chair Gary Clark said several violations "rise to the level of a civil penalty," citing failures to notify adjoining property owners and to document others’ surveys properly. Kevin Martin, a board member, characterized the missing stamp and preliminary label as "pretty novice mistakes" but agreed that the cumulative errors were serious. Justin Raines said the failure to notify an adjoining property owner was "cut and dry, clear. We have to do that."

After discussion, the board voted to include the violations in a consent order and to assess three violations at $1,000 each for a total civil penalty of $3,000. The motion was made and seconded; the roll-call vote recorded aye votes from Kevin Martin, Justin Raines, Tommy Young and Gary Clark.

The board’s legal counsel said all cited violations would be included in the consent order; the order may also require corrective paperwork (a revised plat) and could include education or a letter of warning as part of the sanctioning package. The board did not discuss litigation or further criminal referral in connection with this case during the meeting.

The meeting record shows the board routinely uses consent orders to document multiple violations and that the civil penalty scale for each violation ranges from $50 to $1,000 under its rules. The board’s action was procedural and final for this session; enforcement or further follow-up (for instance, a revised plat) would proceed according to the consent order terms.