REPORT TITLE:
Land Surveying


DESCRIPTION:
Transfers all rights, powers, functions, duties, appropriations,
records, and equipment of the survey division and the cadastral
engineering section in the department of transportation, highways
division (TRN 595) to the land survey division of the department
of accounting and general services (AGS 211).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           2015
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT
RELATING TO SURVEYING.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The history of surveying in Hawaii goes back to
 
 2 the 1850's with the creation of the land commission.  Land awards
 
 3 that were issued at that time required field surveying for
 
 4 documentation.  Early surveys were done with equipment and
 
 5 methods that represented its own time period.  With the
 
 6 establishment of the provisional government and land being its
 
 7 only asset, the government started to sell land to the public.
 
 8 The survey office was established in 1871 to insure proper
 
 9 conveyances of government lands and to resolve ambiguities in
 
10 land awards that were issued.
 
11      The legislature finds that as land developed and value
 
12 increased, the need for more precise or modern surveys were
 
13 required.  Boundary disputes and claims became increasingly
 
14 evident and the need to adopt a land conveyance system had to be
 
15 established in order to settle these disputes.  The land court
 
16 system established in 1920 and the file plan system that was
 
17 later adopted became the means of conveyances.  These systems
 
18 came under survey office review to insure proper conveyance.
 
19 With these systems, the private surveyors in the Territory could
 
20 now be utilized with surveys to insure proper mapping and
 

 
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 1 conveyances.
 
 2      The legislature further finds that as surveying techniques
 
 3 developed through the years, and where once survey represented
 
 4 the foremost in the latest technology, the State has not kept up
 
 5 with modern technology due to budget restraints.  A major portion
 
 6 of government lands still remain surveyed under "ancient methods"
 
 7 and the need to update and modernize these lands are required as
 
 8 land values increase and as the State needs to utilize and
 
 9 protect its major asset.
 
10      The land survey division within the department of accounting
 
11 and general services has increased its functions as the demand
 
12 for survey services has increased.  In addition, staffing over
 
13 the years has been reduced as new technologies have made
 
14 surveying easier.  Nonetheless, faced with uncertain economic
 
15 times and budget restraints, the survey office can only provide
 
16 essential services based on its present staffing.
 
17      The legislature finds that the cadastral engineering section
 
18 in the department of transportation, highways division, which was
 
19 once a part of the survey office, performs substantially the same
 
20 work as the survey office, except that the cadastral engineering
 
21 section handles only transportation lands.  In addition, on each
 
22 island there are land surveying units under the highways
 
23 division.  The legislature finds that consolidating all state
 

 
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 1 government surveyors together under the control of the land
 
 2 survey division of the department of accounting and general
 
 3 services would result in a number of benefits, including the
 
 4 following:
 
 5      (1)  Provide for a centralized surveying department to
 
 6           provide surveying services to all government agencies,
 
 7           including transportation;
 
 8      (2)  Inherit from the department of transportation the
 
 9           intergraph CADD system that is already functionable,
 
10           operative, and capable of establishing a geographic
 
11           information system with modern technology of mapping
 
12           and filing systems;
 
13      (3)  Provide for some staff reductions with respect to
 
14           duplicate positions;
 
15      (4)  Result in the addition of federal-aid money and
 
16           reduction of some general funding;
 
17      (5)  Provide for an established survey unit on all islands
 
18           capable of handling all types of surveying, which would
 
19           reduce travel expenses;
 
20      (6)  Provide that all survey records would be located in one
 
21           place; and
 
22      (7)  Provide surveying services for long-term capital
 
23           improvement project jobs at a reduced cost to
 

 
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 1           government agencies that hire consultants.
 
 2      The legislature finds that the consolidation of these survey
 
 3 units will achieve uniformity in government land conveyances,
 
 4 provide a solid foundation of government surveying, uphold the
 
 5 integrity of the professional surveyor in the State, and produce
 
 6 a more efficient, cost-effective, and streamlined delivery of
 
 7 surveying services to Hawaii's citizens.
 
 8      SECTION 2.  Section 26-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 9 amended to read as follows:
 
10      "§26-6 Department of accounting and general services.(a)
 
11 The department of accounting and general services shall be headed
 
12 by a single executive to be known as the comptroller.
 
13      (b)  The department shall:
 
14      (1)  Preaudit and conduct after-the-fact audits of the
 
15           financial accounts of all state departments to
 
16           determine the legality of expenditures and the accuracy
 
17           of accounts;
 
18      (2)  Report to the governor and to each regular session of
 
19           the legislature as to the finances of each department
 
20           of the State;
 
21      (3)  Administer the state risk management program;
 
22      (4)  Establish and manage motor pools;
 
23      (5)  Manage the preservation and disposal of all records of
 

 
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 1           the State;
 
 2      (6)  Undertake the program of centralized engineering and
 
 3           office leasing services, including operation and
 
 4           maintenance of public buildings, for departments of the
 
 5           State;
 
 6      (7)  Undertake the functions of the state surveyor;
 
 7      (8)  Establish accounting and internal control systems;
 
 8      (9)  Provide centralized computer information management and
 
 9           processing services, coordination in the use of all
 
10           information processing equipment, software, facilities,
 
11           and services in the executive branch of the State, and
 
12           consultation and support services in the use of
 
13           information processing and management technologies to
 
14           improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity
 
15           of state government programs; and
 
16     (10)  Establish, coordinate, and manage a program to provide
 
17           a means for public access to public information and
 
18           develop and operate an information network in
 
19           conjunction with its overall plans for establishing a
 
20           communication backbone for state government.  The state
 
21           communication system shall be established to:
 
22     [(1)] (A)  Facilitate implementation of the State's
 
23                distributed information processing and information
 

 
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 1                resource management plans;
 
 2     [(2)] (B)  Improve data, voice, and video communications in
 
 3                state government;
 
 4     [(3)] (C)  Provide a means for connectivity among the state,
 
 5                university, and county computer systems; and
 
 6     [(4)] (D)  Provide a long-term means for public access to
 
 7                public information.
 
 8      (c)  The department may adopt rules as may be necessary or
 
 9 desirable for the operation and maintenance of public buildings,
 
10 and for the operation and implementation of a program to provide
 
11 a means for public access to the State's information network
 
12 system and public information.  The rules shall be adopted
 
13 pursuant to chapter 91.
 
14      (d)  The King Kamehameha celebration commission shall be
 
15 placed within the department of accounting and general services
 
16 for administrative purposes.  The functions, duties, and powers,
 
17 subject to the administrative control of the comptroller, and the
 
18 composition of the commission shall be as heretofore provided by
 
19 law.
 
20      (e)  The functions and authority heretofore exercised by the
 
21 comptroller, board of commissioners of public archives, the
 
22 archivist, the disposal committee, and the insurance management,
 
23 surplus property management, and central purchasing functions of
 

 
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 1 the bureau of the budget and the nonhighway functions of the
 
 2 department of public works as heretofore constituted are
 
 3 transferred to the department of accounting and general services
 
 4 established by this chapter.
 
 5      (f)  Effective July 1, 2000, the functions and authority
 
 6 heretofore exercised by the survey division and the cadastral
 
 7 engineering section in the department of transportation, highways
 
 8 division, are transferred to the land survey division of the
 
 9 department of accounting and general services."
 
10      SECTION 3.  Section 107-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
11 repealed.
 
12      ["§107-6 Standards prescribed by department.  All matters
 
13 pertaining to land surveying, mapping, studying land titles and
 
14 boundaries, preparing metes and bounds descriptions, setting
 
15 centerline highway monuments, and other work related thereto
 
16 performed by the department of transportation shall be performed
 
17 in conformance with the professional standards to be prescribed
 
18 by the department of accounting and general services and the cost
 
19 in connection therewith shall be borne by the department of
 
20 transportation."]
 
21      SECTION 4.  All rights, powers, functions, and duties of the
 
22 survey division and the cadastral engineering section in the
 
23 department of transportation, highways division (TRN 595) are
 

 
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 1 transferred to the land survey division of the department of
 
 2 accounting and general services (AGS 211).
 
 3      All officers and employees whose functions are transferred
 
 4 by this Act shall be transferred with their functions and shall
 
 5 continue to perform their regular duties upon their transfer,
 
 6 subject to the state personnel laws and this Act.
 
 7      No officer or employee of the State having tenure shall
 
 8 suffer any loss of salary, seniority, prior service credit,
 
 9 vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefit or privilege as a
 
10 consequence of this Act, and such officer or employee may be
 
11 transferred or appointed to a civil service position without the
 
12 necessity of examination; provided that the officer or employee
 
13 possesses the minimum qualifications for the position to which
 
14 transferred or appointed; and provided that subsequent changes in
 
15 status may be made pursuant to applicable civil service and
 
16 compensation laws.
 
17      Any incumbent officer or employee of the State who does not
 
18 have tenure and who may be transferred or appointed to a civil
 
19 service position as a consequence of this Act, shall be granted
 
20 regular civil service status without loss of seniority, prior
 
21 service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefits,
 
22 and without the necessity of examination; provided they possess
 
23 the minimum qualifications for the class to which their positions
 

 
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 1 are assigned.  The pay rate of non-tenured employees affected by
 
 2 this Act shall be determined in the same manner as the pay rate
 
 3 of other civil service employees in comparable positions with the
 
 4 same length of service.  Any officer or employee converted by
 
 5 this Act shall have performed work satisfactorily in the position
 
 6 for a period of not less than six months prior to the effective
 
 7 date of this Act.
 
 8      In the event that an office or position held by an officer
 
 9 or employee having tenure is abolished, the officer or employee
 
10 shall not thereby be separated from public employment, but shall
 
11 remain in the employment of the State with the same pay and
 
12 classification and shall be transferred to some other office or
 
13 position for which the officer or employee is eligible under the
 
14 personnel laws of the State as determined by the head of the
 
15 department or the governor.
 
16      SECTION 5.  All appropriations, records, equipment,
 
17 machines, files, supplies, contracts, books, papers, documents,
 
18 maps, and other personal property heretofore made, used,
 
19 acquired, or held by the survey division and the cadastral
 
20 engineering section in the department of transportation, highways
 
21 division (TRN 595) relating to the functions transferred to the
 
22 land survey division of the department of accounting and general
 
23 services (AGS 211) shall be transferred with the functions to
 

 
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 1 which they relate.
 
 2      SECTION 6.  It is the intent of this Act not to jeopardize
 
 3 the receipt of any federal aid nor to impair the obligation of
 
 4 the State or any agency thereof to the holders of any bond issued
 
 5 by the State or by any such agency, and to the extent, and only
 
 6 to the extent, necessary to effectuate this intent, the governor
 
 7 may modify the strict provisions of this Act, but shall promptly
 
 8 report any such modification with reasons therefor to the
 
 9 legislature at its next session thereafter for review by the
 
10 legislature.
 
11      SECTION 7.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
12 New statutory material is underscored.
 
13      SECTION 8.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2000.
 
14 
 
15                              INTRODUCED BY:______________________