§ 18.033.State Land Records

A presumption for one narrow but valuable class of dispute: where the Gulf shoreline meets private property.

In a dispute between the State of Texas and an upland owner of property fronting on the Gulf of Mexico and its arms, the maps, surveys, and property descriptions filed in the General Land Office in connection with any conveyance by the state or a predecessor government are presumed to accurately depict the boundary between the upland owner and the state-owned submerged lands.

The presumption reaches conveyances by patent, deed, lease, or other authorized forms of grant, and to any predecessor government — which in Texas means the records may descend from Spanish, Mexican, or Republic-era grants.

Subsection (b) limits which surveys qualify: only those conducted by a surveyor duly appointed, elected, or licensed, and qualified.

Subsection (c) sets a high bar for rebuttal. The presumption may be overcome only on a showing of clear and convincing evidence that the boundary as described in the Land Office archives is erroneous — not a preponderance, which is the ordinary civil standard.

The reason for the strength of the presumption is the nature of the boundary. A shoreline moves, and the land beneath tidal waters belongs to the state. Reopening historical surveys on ordinary proof would unsettle coastal titles across the entire Gulf frontage.