The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-08-19
LAND MAPS
ON RECORD
A Ruling by Hawaii's
Chief Law
Officer.

IidnS anu OI Iduu CdlHUt no
accepted for record as part of judg
ment, according to an opinion rendered
yesterday by AIuorney-ge general Lorrin
Andrews. Such maps must be filed for
record separately.
United States District Attorney
Breckens some days ago offered for FL
ing as part of record of a court judg-
ment tracing of a map of certain land
condemned for government purposes.
Recorder of Conveyances Charles III.
Merriam refused to file the tracing on
the ground that it was forbidden by law.
The Attorneygeneral was appealed to
and after expressing doubt as to the
legality of fling such court judgments,
asserts the correctness of the recorder g
refusal.
The full text Of the opinion as filed
yesterday in Recorder of Conveyances
Merriam 3 office is as follows:
Honolulu, Aug. 1S, 1905.
Hon. A. J. Campbell, Treasurer, Terri
tory of Hawaii, Honolulu, Oahu.
Dear Sir: Your favor of August 10,
1905, duly received requesting an opin-
ion as to whether the Registrar of Con-
veyances should record in his Office, as
part of a judgment, certain plans or
maps in view of the provisions of Sec
ton 4 of act % of the laws of 1905,
and in reply I would state that I have
examined the communication to you of
Charles H. Merriam, together with the
copy of the letter of the United States
District Attorney to the Attorney gen.
eral in Washington and our various
statutes on the subject Snd am of the
following opinion:
the United States District Attorney OBJ
tanned judgment in the United States
District Court in a suit for the con-
demnation of certain property. Includ-
ed in this judgment is a plan or map
of said property. He has presented a
certified copy of this judgment to the
Registrar of Conveyances an. requests
that the same be recorded, also at the
same time offering tracing of the map
for filing. The Registrar of Convey
ances declines to record the map as con-
trary to section 4 of act % of the laws
of 1905 and is willing to accep: the
tracing for, fling, il. it complies with
said laws, and also is willing to record
the Judgment of the United States Dis
trict Court without said map or plan.
Our law on the subject of what in
struments are entitled, by law, to be re-
corded in the office of the Registrar of
Conveyances is rather vague and uncer-
tain, and I find no provision providing
for the recording Of judgments therein
from the court of record, and from the
tenor of the various acts and the re-
quirements necessary for fling, I am
very doubtful whether such judgments
should legally be recorded.
AS to the question of the plans and
maps, however, it is perfectly clear that
the same cannot be recorded by the
Registrar of Conveyances under act 90.
This act is a special act, providing for
the filing of plans and surveys of lands
in this Office, and sections /, 2 and of
said act specify the conditions upon
which a plan or map shall be filed in
the archives of the office, and what
said plan or map shall contain.
Section 4 is as follows
1t shall not be lawful for the Reg
istrar of Conveyances to accept for rec
ord any plan of land after this act
takes effect The act was approved
on the third day of April, 1905.
The intent of the legislature was
plain that hereafter no plans or maps
of lands should be recorded with any
instrument of conveyance but that the
same should be separately fled as pro-
vided for in said act, and only under
the terms set forth in said act.
The tender of an additional plan for
fling, in no way allows or permits the
acceptance for record of similar plan
as part of said judgment, nor could
the Registrar of Conveyances, even if
he decides to accept the judgment and
record the same, under the law, accept
the plan attached thereto as part
thereof without deliberate violation
of said act.
am of the opinion, therefore, that
his action in declining to record the
map or plan rendered by the United
States District Attorney was correct.
Yours truly
LORRIN ANDREWS,
L.