County Surveyor
LAND DIVISION REVIEW - TIE SHEET POLICY - SURVEY DOCUMENT SUBMITTAL 12/29/2021: click link to view memo
SURVEY RECORDS:
Survey records on file with the county surveyor may be viewed in person during normal office hours or on our GIS website (leaving this Barron Co site).
Instructions are as follows:
- From the disclaimer page, agree to the terms.
- From the map page, find "Survey Search" at the top of the Layers list on the lefthand side of the window.
- A new window will appear along the right side of the window.
- Enter your search criteria and click SEARCH. Results will appear along the bottom.
- Click on the image name (hotlink) you are interested in looking at to open your default image viewer.
Hint: A Town - Range - Section search will yield the best results. These options are within the pulldown menus. To return to the parcel search (default), you will need to highlight the "Parcels" layer in the layer list on the lefthand side of the window (single left click on the name of the layer).
Note: CSM, plat, and condominium (recorded) information is not included with the GIS survey records. The Excel spreadsheet attachments at the bottom of this page are a snapshot of that information. If you do not have Excel, a link to a downloadable viewer is available on the main FAQ section (on the left side of this window).
FAQs:
- Can the county surveyor find my lot lines? The County Surveyor cannot survey for private parties. He only does field work for County projects. A list of private land surveyors can be found in your local yellow pages.
- Doesn't every lot have to be surveyed? Historically, a great number of parcels in the county were created by written legal description and not by field survey. Therefore it is likely that there are no physical markers in the ground to show lot corners. Surveys are now required for certain new land divisions as determined by municipal or county rules/ordinances.
- What marks the corners of my lot? If your parcel has indeed been surveyed (see above), it is likely that the lot corners are marked with an iron rebar or metal pipe. However, many other different objects have been used. The drawing on your survey map should indicate the type of monument set. Most often the monument will be set below the surface to help avoid disturbance.
- What are those signs that say 'County Survey Monument Nearby' on them? Small rectangular white signs are placed on metal posts near ties to government section corners. They are not marking the corner itself, but are placed around the corner in order to preserve its location. Please do not disturb or remove these markers!
- Who is surveying at my neighbor's house? What if I don't agree with the surveyor's work? There are many private licensed land surveyors who work in the county. They are independent, do not work for the county, and are not supervised/approved by the county. The county cannot determine 'who is right' in a property line dispute.
- I have a GPS device or GPS capabilities on my smart phone. Can't I just go find my lot corners with that? County parcel mapping and/or coordinates obtained from it are not to be used for surveying. Land surveyors follow specific rules and use legal descriptions and known points for their work. For greater detail regarding this question, please click on this link to access an article and whitepaper from the WI State Cartographer's Office and WI Society of Land Surveyors.
Links: (all open in new window)
Wisconsin Society of Land Surveyors
Bureau of Land Management
National Geodetic Survey
WI Public Land Survey Records