Free Vermont Land Surveyor State Jurisprudence Exam Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the Vermont Land Surveyor State Jurisprudence Exam practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1A Vermont licensee is asked to retrace a disputed property line. Which activity falls within the statutory practice of land surveying?

   1. A. Locating or retracing the property boundary
   2. B. Rendering a legal judgment quieting title
   3. C. Issuing a title-insurance policy
   4. D. Assessing the parcel for municipal taxation

   Answer: A

   Explanation: 26 V.S.A. § 2502(4)(A) includes "locating, relocating, establishing, reestablishing, or retracing property lines or boundaries" in land surveying. Retracing the disputed line therefore falls within the licensed practice.

   Reference: Vermont Laws — 26 V.S.A. § 2502(4)(A)

2. 2Which State Papers volume indexes Vermont’s Surveyors-General records?

   1. A. Index to the Papers of the Surveyors-General
   2. B. Petitions for Grants of Land
   3. C. New York Land Patents
   4. D. Vermont Municipalities

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The Secretary of State’s series list identifies Volume I as "INDEX TO THE PAPERS OF THE SURVEYORS-GENERAL."

   Reference: Vsara State Papers Guide — 3 V.S.A. § 117; State Papers of Vermont series list I, page 158

3. 3The LeBlanc-Snelgrove boundary litigation concerned neighboring properties on which Vermont lake?

   1. A. Lake Bomoseen
   2. B. Lake Carmi
   3. C. Lake Memphremagog
   4. D. Lake Willoughby

   Answer: C

   Explanation: The Vermont Supreme Court order states: "This dispute involves two neighboring properties on Lake Memphremagog in Newport, Vermont."

   Reference: Vermont Supreme Court Eo23 341 — Vt. Sup. Ct. Case No. 339-12-08

4. 4When may a licensed Vermont surveyor use the statutory right of entry for a private boundary survey?

   1. A. Whenever preparing any topographic map
   2. B. When title may be in question or boundaries between abutting parcels are to be established
   3. C. Only after obtaining a court warrant
   4. D. Only for a State highway project

   Answer: B

   Explanation: 27 V.S.A. § 4 applies "where the title to lands, tenements, or hereditaments may come in question, or in order to establish boundaries between abutting parcels."

   Reference: Title 27 Section 4 — 27 V.S.A. § 4

5. 5Choose the date range assigned to the first Vermont General Assembly journal part.

   1. A. March 1778 through June 1781
   2. B. October 1781 through October 1783
   3. C. February 1784 through March 1787
   4. D. October 1787 through January 1791

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The official State Papers list describes Part I as "March 1778 through June 1781."

   Reference: Vsara State Papers Guide — 3 V.S.A. § 117; State Papers of Vermont series list, page 158, § III, Part I

6. 6A surveyor retraces a boundary created in an earlier conveyance. A recent deed repeats that description with newer measurements. What does the original-line principle imply?

   1. A. The newer measurements replace the original line as soon as the deed is delivered.
   2. B. The original line remains fixed unless a legal change alters the boundary.
   3. C. The original line is relocated whenever a later owner requests a resurvey.
   4. D. The newer deed creates a separate line even if it conveys the same parcel.

   Answer: B

   Explanation: The Wiley chapter says, "These originally created lines remain fixed and unalterable except as provided by law." Later conveyance or a new measurement does not itself move the original created line; a legally effective change can.

   Reference: Evidence and Procedures for Boundary Location, sixth edition, chapter 1 excerpt — Evidence and Procedures for Boundary Location, sixth edition, chapter 1, Introduction, printed page 2

7. 7A landowner conveys a parcel using a deed that describes its corners and lines before any field survey is completed. Under Brown's discussion of boundary creation, what can that deed do?

   1. A. Create the described boundary by writing before a survey is completed.
   2. B. Create the described boundary only after monuments are placed in the field.
   3. C. Create the described boundary only after a later survey plat is recorded.
   4. D. Create the described boundary only after a court approves its geometry.

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The Wiley chapter explains that written creation occurs when a person "describes corners and/or lines in a deed and then conveys to these described lines, prior to the completion of a survey." A field survey may later locate a line already created by the conveyance.

   Reference: Brown's Boundary Control and Legal Principles, sixth edition, chapter 1 excerpt — Brown's Boundary Control and Legal Principles, sixth edition, chapter 1, Boundaries by Writings

8. 8A surveyor must distinguish a claim to ownership of land from a claim to continued use of a path across neighboring land. Which terminology correctly matches the two interests in ordinary boundary usage?

   1. A. Adverse possession for land title; prescription for an easement-type use interest.
   2. B. Prescription for land title; adverse possession for an easement-type use interest.
   3. C. Adverse possession for both land title and an easement-type use interest.
   4. D. Prescription for both land title and an easement-type use interest.

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The 1910 Black's entry says prescription "is the term usually applied to incorporeal hereditaments," while Thomson Reuters defines it as an interest such as an easement rather than full title. In the ordinary distinction tested here, adverse possession concerns land title. This does not impose a rule on jurisdictions with different uses of the word prescription.

   Reference: Black's Law Dictionary (1910), Prescription transcription — Black's Law Dictionary (1910), Prescription entry

9. 9An unlicensed Vermont consultant advertises under the title “licensed land surveyor” but performs no fieldwork. What does the statute provide?

   1. A. The title is allowed if no fee is charged
   2. B. The title is allowed if a disclaimer is displayed
   3. C. The title use is prohibited
   4. D. The title is allowed for mapping consultants

   Answer: C

   Explanation: 26 V.S.A. § 2503(a)(1) says an unlicensed person shall not "use the title ‘licensed land surveyor’ or any substantially equivalent title." The prohibition applies to the title itself.

   Reference: Adminstrative Rules for Land Surveyors — 26 V.S.A. § 2503(a)(1)

10. 10In the Vermont State Papers guide, who prepared the index to the Surveyors-General papers?

    1. A. Walter H. Crockett
    2. B. Franklin H. Dewart
    3. C. Mary Greene Nye
    4. D. Julie P. Cox

    Answer: B

    Explanation: The official series list states that Volume I was "Prepared by Franklin H. Dewart."

    Reference: Vsara State Papers Guide — 3 V.S.A. § 117; State Papers of Vermont series list, page 158, § I