Land Surveyor in Jackson County, Missouri

Jackson County is the most populous county in the Kansas City area on the Missouri side, and it is unusual in having two county seats, Independence and Kansas City. Land records, though, are kept in just one office: the Recorder of Deeds in Independence, which indexes deeds and other recorded documents and offers an online document search. If you are looking for a land surveyor in Jackson County, MO, Survey Coordinator can connect you with an independent, Missouri-licensed surveyor who works with these records regularly.

The county line matters more than many owners expect, because Kansas City, Missouri does not stop at Jackson County. Parts of the city lie in Clay, Platte and Cass Counties, each with its own recorder. A Kansas City address alone does not tell a surveyor where to look, so the county on your tax bill is the better guide. Survey records also exist beyond the county: Missouri's state Land Survey Program keeps a statewide repository of plats and public land corner documents that surveyors can search online.

Outside city limits, Jackson County Public Works handles zoning, subdivision and development permits under the county's Unified Development Code, and its planning staff work from the Independence office. Much of that unincorporated land sits in the eastern half of the county, around the Little Blue River valley and the large county parks at Fleming Park and Longview Lake. The Missouri River forms the northern border, and the Blue River drains the west. A property survey or elevation certificate is often the first step before buying or building near any of them.