Spring Workshops Registration Now Open!

In-Person, Across the State, April 29-May 29

(And an In-Person Plat Review Officer Workshop May 13th)

Spring Land Records Workshops

The Land Records Management Program of the NC Secretary of State offers a series of Spring Land Records Workshops each year in-person at locations spread across the state. These day-long workshops (8am-5pm) will feature multiple speakers on a wide range of topics.

This year's Speaker Lineup (and general topic areas) are:

• Nathan Bland, NCSOS -- Annexations
• Adam Blythe, NCDOI -- Fire Insurance Districts and Rating Program
• Rich Elkins, NCSOS -- Condominiums
• John Quinterno, NCOSBM -- Census Programs and Surveys
• Gary Thompson, NCGS -- NCGS Updates: County Boundaries, Datums, and more
• Various Speakers, NCBEES -- Surveyor Ethics and Rules of Professional Conduct
  *fulfills PLS 1-hour ethics requirement!*
• Various Speakers, NCCGIA -- Statewide Data Resources and Collaboration Efforts

Dates and Locations: (see registration link for specific venues)

• Weds. April 29th - Washington NC (Beaufort County)
• Weds. May 6th - Franklin NC (Macon County)
• Thurs. May 14th - Concord NC (Cabarrus County)
• Mon. May 18th - Burlington NC (Alamance County)
• Tues. May 19th - Fayetteville NC (Cumberland County)
• Fri. May 29th *tentative date pending confirmation* - Wilkesboro NC (Wilkes County)

*Note: Wilkesboro location is still pending and subject to change in date or venue, but you can go ahead and register. Anyone registered will be notified if there is a change.

Registration is NOW OPEN!

Workshops are in-person, starting at 8am. We'll have an hour lunch break at noon (lunch is on your own), returning at 1pm and going to 5pm. The specific schedule of presenters will vary by location to accommodate their specific limitations.

These workshops are FREE for all Governmental Employees AND anyone who's a member of the NC Property Mappers Association. If you're not employed by Government, and not an NCPMA member, the cost is $50, which makes you a member for the remainder of the year and eligible for member rates at any of their other events.

The workshop is good for 8 hours of credit for Property Mappers, Professional Licensed Surveyors and DOR-Certified Appraisers and Assessors.For PLS, this ALSO counts for your 1-hour ethics requirement! Registers of Deeds/staff are eligible for 4 hours credit through NCARD. For other certification programs, please check with your certification administration organization for questions of credit acceptance.

Questions? If you have questions about the workshop schedule or content, please direct those to landrecords@sosnc.gov. If you have questions about your registration, please direct those to Dawn Perry at daperry@orangecountync.gov.

In-Person Plat Review Officer Workshop - Concord

The Land Records Management Program of the NC Secretary of State also offers trainings for Plat Review Officers and others who work with approval of surveys for recording.

These workshops are critical training for those who are or aspire to be appointed as Plat Review Officers under GS 47-30.2, but is also highly useful for Surveyors, Planners, Register of Deeds Staff, or anyone else who deals with survey plats and plat approval processes.

We offer these workshops both virtually, once per quarter, as well as in-person when we have someone willing to host us and we think there will be a reasonable demand. We HIGHLY encourage folks to take advantage of the in-person training when it's available and convenient.

The next in-person workshop will be Wednesday, May 13th from 1-5pm in the Multi-Purpose Room (2nd floor) of the Cabarrus County Government Center, located at 65 Church St S. in Concord (the afternoon prior to the day-long Spring Land Records Workshop in the same venue. This workshop is free, but pre-registration is required, and registration is on a different platform.

The workshop is good for 4 hours of credit for Property Mappers*, Surveyors and Registers of Deeds/staff. For other certification programs, please check with your certification administration organization for questions of credit acceptance.

*Note: This workshop may be used twice for a maximum of 8 hours credit toward a single 2-year renewal cycle for State Certified Property Mappers.

Please pre-register so we can have your certificate printed!

Registration Link: Plat Review Workshop (in-person) 5/13/26 Concord.

Please direct any questions about the workshop or registration to landrecords@sosnc.gov

Reach out: If you ever have any questions about GS 47-30, Review Officer, or general plat approval issues, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We can't necessarily answer questions specifically related to the planning-specific questions, as they're often highly dependent upon the local jurisdiction's ordinances, but can often address issues about various exemptions set out in statewide statutes. Email is often better than calling, as you can send a scan of the maps or other documents in question, which helps us to see the full picture. We're also frequently out of the office for meetings, conferences, or doing trainings.

Office Contacts:

• Rich Elkins, Director: relkins@sosnc.gov 919-814-5457
• Nathan Bland, Consultant: nbland@sosnc.gov 919-814-5456
• General Division Contact: landrecords@sosnc.gov 919-814-5455 (this is a shared email, checked by both of us, and a phone that rings to both of us. Feel free to utilize if it isn't important to you which of us you need a response from, but please do not leave voicemails on this 5455 number, as only Nathan can access it from in the office, and both of us work remotely most of the time. Call back to one of us directly to leave a voicemail)

Stay informed:

You can always keep up with our workshop offerings and other NCPMA events and discussions by joining the NCPMA Listserv, hosted by the UNC School of Government

https://www.sog.unc.edu/resources/listservs/nc-property-mappers-association-ncpma

We’ve also created this Constant Contact mailing list for those (especially surveyors) who don’t want to join the listserv, but do want to be informed about the SOSNC Land Records Management Division’s training opportunities. You're already subscribed to this Constant Contact list, but we'd appreciate it if you'd share this with others who might be similarly interested!

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/5pvTPYR/landrecords/