Legal Descriptions – The Quick and Dirty
Instructor: Pamela Dunham, PKM, Butler County GIS Director
9 am to 12 pm, Tuesday, October 6, 2026

This half-day session is geared toward those individuals that work with legal descriptions. Are you a Clerk that is trying to work deeds? Are you a GIS Technician trying to key legal descriptions into ArcGIS or CAD? What do you do when the legal does not close or does not make sense? This class is for you.

We will take a close look at legal descriptions and break them down to just the information you need to identify the property being conveyed. Then, we will take a deeper dive into the rectangular survey system and metes & bounds descriptions with some tips and tricks to make them understandable. We will cover the hierarchy of calls when there are errors in the legal description, how to read a land compass and figure out what an Azimuth is.

When we converted to GIS I thought, “whew, now I can just key in the legal and my computer will map it for me!” How wrong I was. This base knowledge is invaluable. What to do when the legal does not close? What if the legal shows 400’ to the river and the river is 600’ away? How do I make sense of a page long legal described in course and distance when trying to determine what property is being conveyed? We will answer all these questions and more.

What to bring with you: We recommend bringing a notepad and writing utensil if you wish to take notes. All participants will receive a copy of the presentation and documents.

Cost: Members $75 / Non-Members $125