South Carolina Law > Code of Laws > Title 27

SECTION 27-2-10. System adopted; title.

The system of plane coordinates which has been established by the National Ocean Survey and the National Geodetic Survey for defining and stating the positions or location of points on the surface of the earth within this State may be cited as the "South Carolina Coordinate System Act."

For the purpose of the use of this system the State is designated as one zone.

HISTORY: 1979 Act No. 54, Section 1; 1989 Act No. 32, Section 1.

SECTION 27-2-20. Zone title for use in land descriptions.

As established, the South Carolina Coordinate System is named, and in a land description in which it is used it is designated, the "South Carolina Coordinate System."

HISTORY: 1979 Act No. 54, Section 1; 1989 Act No. 32, Section 1.

SECTION 27-2-30. Plane coordinates for expressing position of point defined.

The plane coordinates of a point on the earth's surface, to be used in expressing the position or location of a point in the State, consist of two distances, expressed in feet and decimals of a foot. One of these distances, to be known as the easting (x-coordinate), gives the distance in an east-and-west direction; the other, to be known as the northing (y-coordinate), gives the distance in a north-and-south direction. These coordinates must be made to depend upon and conform to the coordinates, on the South Carolina Coordinate System, of the monumented points of the North American Horizontal Geodetic Control Network as published by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (now the National Geodetic Survey) within this State as those coordinates have been determined by the survey.

HISTORY: 1979 Act No. 54, Section 1; 1989 Act No. 32, Section 1.

SECTION 27-2-50. Coordinate System defined.

For purposes of more precisely defining the South Carolina Coordinate System, the following definition by the National Ocean Survey and the National Geodetic Survey is adopted:

The South Carolina Coordinate System is a Lambert conformal projection of the North American Datum, 1983, having standard parallels at north latitudes 32° 30' and 34° 50', along which parallels the scale must be exact. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 81° 00'west of Greenwich and the parallel 31° 50' north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: * = 2,000,000 feet and y = 0 feet. For the purposes of the South Carolina Coordinate System, the foot is the International Foot with one inch being exactly equal to 2.54 centimeters.

The position of South Carolina Coordinate System is as marked on the ground by monumented points of the North American Horizontal Geodetic Control Network established in conformity with standards adopted by the Federal Geodetic Control Committee for first-order and second-order work, whose geodetic positions have been rigidly adjusted on the North American Datum of 1983, and whose coordinates have been computed on the system defined in this section. Any such stations may be used for establishing a survey connection with the South Carolina Coordinate System.

HISTORY: 1979 Act No. 54, Section 1; 1989 Act No. 32, Section 1.

SECTION 27-2-60. Standards required for recordation; modification to meet local conditions.

No coordinates based on the South Carolina Coordinate System, purporting to define the position of a point on a land boundary, may be presented to be recorded in public land records or deed records unless that point is established in accordance with Federal Geodetic Control Committee specification for second order-class two. The limitation may be modified by the South Carolina Geodetic Survey to meet local conditions.

HISTORY: 1979 Act No. 54, Section 1; 1989 Act No. 32, Section 1.

SECTION 27-2-70. Use of term "South Carolina Coordinate System" on map.

The use of "South Carolina Coordinate System" on a map, report of survey, or other document, must be limited to coordinates based on the South Carolina Coordinate System as defined in this chapter.

HISTORY: 1979 Act No. 54, Section 1; 1989 Act No. 32, Section 1.

SECTION 27-2-85. Duties of South Carolina Geodetic Survey.

The South Carolina Geodetic Survey established within the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office shall establish horizontal and vertical geodetic control within the State at a density that effectively will provide land and land-related items and records to be referenced to the national horizontal and vertical coordinate system, ensure the accuracy and integrity of new geodetic data entered into the state and national reference system, maintain geodetic files for the State, and disseminate geodetic information as necessary.

HISTORY: 1994 Act No. 497, Part II, Section 59A; 2018 Act No. 246 (H.3895), Section 7, eff July 1, 2018.

Code Commissioner's Note

At the direction of the Code Commissioner, references in this section to the offices of the former State Budget and Control Board, Office of the Governor, or other agencies, were changed to reflect the transfer of them to the Department of Administration or other entities, pursuant to the directive of the South Carolina Restructuring Act, 2014 Act No. 121, Section 5(D)(1).

Effect of Amendment

2018 Act No. 246, Section 7, deleted "Office of Research and Statistics of the" preceding "Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office".

SECTION 27-2-95. State mapping products to be compatible with coordinate system; establishment of standards; programs.

To the extent possible, the South Carolina Geodetic Survey of the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office shall utilize the office's responsibility of coordinating mapping activities in the State to ensure that mapping products are compatible with the South Carolina Coordinate System. As part of this activity, the office shall establish, develop, and promulgate standards for maps and map products to ensure quality, accuracy, and compatibility of mapping products, encourage the development of accurate mapping systems that are compatible with and suitable for incorporation into a standardized statewide mapping system, develop, maintain, and administer programs for funding qualified mapping projects, and serve as the focal point for federal, state, and local mapping programs and activities in South Carolina.

HISTORY: 1994 Act No. 497, Part II, Section 59A; 2018 Act No. 246 (H.3895), Section 7, eff July 1, 2018.

Code Commissioner's Note

At the direction of the Code Commissioner, references in this section to the offices of the former State Budget and Control Board, Office of the Governor, or other agencies, were changed to reflect the transfer of them to the Department of Administration or other entities, pursuant to the directive of the South Carolina Restructuring Act, 2014 Act No. 121, Section 5(D)(1).

Effect of Amendment

2018 Act No. 246, Section 7, in the first sentence, deleted "Office of Research and Statistics of the" preceding "Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office".

SECTION 27-2-105. Clarification of county boundaries; role of South Carolina Geodetic Survey; contested case hearings.

(A)(1) Where county boundaries are ill-defined, unmarked, or poorly marked, the South Carolina Geodetic Survey on a cooperative basis shall assist counties in defining and monumenting the locations of county boundaries and positioning the monuments using geodetic surveys. The South Carolina Geodetic Survey (SCGS) shall seek to clarify the county boundaries as defined in Chapter 3, Title 4. The SCGS shall analyze archival and other evidence and perform field surveys geographically to position all county boundaries in accordance with statutory descriptions. Physical and descriptive points defining boundaries must be referenced using South Carolina State Plane Coordinates.

(2) If there is a boundary dispute between two or more counties, the SCGS shall act as the mediator to resolve the dispute.

(3) Upon reestablishing all, or some portion, of a county boundary, the SCGS shall certify its work and within thirty days of that certification:

(a) provide copies to the administrator of each affected county;

(b) provide written notification to affected parties;

(c) provide notice and copies to the public through its official website and or other means it considers appropriate; and

(d) notify as it determines appropriate, other affected state and federal agencies.

(4) For purposes of item (1), a certification for all or some portion of a county boundary means a plat signed and sealed by a licensed South Carolina Professional Land Surveyor and approved by the Chief of the SCGS.

(B)(1) An affected party disagreeing with a boundary certified by the SCGS may file a request for a contested case hearing with the South Carolina Administrative Law Court according to the court's rules of procedure. An affected party has sixty calendar days from the date of a written notice sent to the affected party to file an appeal with the Administrative Law Court.

(2) As used in this subsection an "affected party" means:

(a) the governing body of an affected county;

(b) the governing body of a political subdivision of this State, including a school district, located in whole or in part in the certification zone;

(c) an elected official, other than a statewide elected official, whose electoral district is located in whole or in part in the certification zone;

(d) a property owner or an individual residing in the certification zone;

(e) a business entity located in the certification zone; or

(f) a nonresident individual who owns or leases real property situated in the certification zone.

(3) A "certification zone" means the actual territory in which the boundary certification changes from one affected county to another.

(4) The decision of the Administrative Law Court may be appealed as provided in Section 1-23-610.

(5) The certified county boundary plat described in subsection (A)(4) of this section takes effect for all purposes on the date provided in item (6).

(6) When the certified boundary plat is no longer subject to appeal, the SCGS under cover of a letter signed by the Chief of the SCGS shall provide an appropriate revised boundary map to the Secretary of State, the South Carolina Department of Archives, and the register of deeds in each affected county. The date of the SCGS director's cover letter is the date the revised boundaries take effect.

(7) When all portions of a county boundary are resolved, the SCGS shall prepare a unique boundary description for counties with boundaries affected by the operation of this section and forward that description in a form suitable for the General Assembly to amend county boundaries as described in Chapter 3, Title 4.

(C) Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting or in any way restricting the plenary authority of the General Assembly by legislative enactment to adjust or otherwise clarify existing county boundaries, however, these boundaries may have been established.

HISTORY: 1994 Act No. 497, Part II, Section 59A; 2014 Act No. 262 (S.988), Section 2, eff June 9, 2014.

Effect of Amendment

2014 Act No. 262, Section 2, rewrote the section.

SECTION 27-2-110. Reliance on description based on coordinate system not required.

Nothing contained in this chapter requires a purchaser or mortgagee to rely on a description, a part of which depends exclusively upon the South Carolina Coordinate System.

HISTORY: 1979 Act No. 54, Section 1; 1989 Act No. 32, Section 1.