Land Records, Cadastral Systems, and Research
Records research
A land surveyor must be able to build a chain of title and a boundary evidence file. Know the difference between a grantor-grantee index and a tract index, and understand that indexing errors can hide a conveyance. Deeds, plats, easements, judgments, liens, probate records, and tax records all may affect a boundary. Research is not complete when the current deed is found; you must trace back to a common grantor or to the original conveyance that created the parcel.
Recording and cadastral concepts
Recording statutes determine priority among competing interests. In general, a later purchaser for value without notice may prevail over an earlier unrecorded interest under a notice statute; under a race-notice statute, the later purchaser must also record first. Questions often test whether a deed was validly delivered, whether it was recorded, and whether a subsequent purchaser had notice. Mississippi practice also involves tax parcels, assessor maps, and cadastral GIS layers that are not boundary surveys.
Trap to watch
A tax map or GIS parcel line is an administrative representation, not a monument or a legal boundary. A question may show a GIS line aligning with a fence and imply the GIS line controls; legal boundary evidence controls instead.
Worked example
If A deeds to B but B does not record, and A later deeds the same parcel to C, who pays value and has no notice, C may prevail under a notice statute. If the jurisdiction requires race-notice, C must also record before B. Always identify the statute and the notice status before choosing an answer.
Rule of thumb
Research outward and backward: subject parcel, adjoining parcels, common grantor, then original grants and plats. Document every source.