Hotel

ASPLS has reserved the following discounted nightly room rates for attendees, based on the room type:

Single Queen $132.00
Double Queen $154.00
Double Queen Suite $185.00

Please note that room rates are subject to lodging tax, city and state surcharges, as well as a 4.25% resort fee. Rates reflect occupancy by up to 2 people. There is a $10.00 per person charge for each additional person. Check-in begins at 4:00 pm and your guests may check out any time before 11:00 am.

To Reserve Your Room: call 256-505-6621 and mention our group code [  ASPLS   ]. Guests can also make reservations online. Visit

https://www.reseze.net/servlet/SendPage?hotelid=1793&skipfirstpage=true&page=53839

Please note that a deposit is required for each reservation made. Deposits are the sum of one night’s lodging plus taxes and are due at the time the reservation is made.

Registration 

Full registration: Available to members and non-members. Discounted early registration through September 9, 2025 Online Registration; Print Registration.

Individual session registration: Best for those that only want to attend THREE OR FEWER sessions.  Discounted early registration through September 9, 2025 Online Registration for MEMBERS; Online Registration for NON-MEMBERS; Print Registration.

Exhibitor Registration: A limited number of table top exhibits are available to companies to display products and services for land surveyors and engineers. Please note space is limited. Register online or see Print Registration.

Schedule of Events

Monday, October 13, 2025

10:00 AM Golf Tournament Benefitting Student Scholarships

3:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Exhibitors Set Up

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM: ASPLS Board Meeting Dinner. Registrants can add dinner for this night as well as no other onsite food is available.

7:00 PM – 9:00 PM: Social Time at the Hickory Lounge

Tuesday, October 14, 2025

7:00 AM: Registration and Breakfast with Exhibitors

8:00 AM – 11:30 AM Session 1A [3.5 PDH] – Railroad rights-of-way Part 1, presented by Kristopher Kline

8:00 AM – 11:30 AM Session 1B [3.5 PDH] – Underground Utility Locating, presented by Simon Pedley

8:00 AM – 11:30 AM Session 1C [3.5 PDH] – History of Surveying in Alabama with Faircloth Notes, presented by Milton Denny

11:30 AM - Box Lunch provided

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Session 2  [1 PDH] – Surveying in Alabama and ASPLS Membership Meeting, presented by Troy Halliburton

1:30 PM – 5:00 PM Session 3A [3.5 PDH] – Railroad rights-of-way Part 2, presented by Kristopher Kline

1:30 PM – 5:00 PM Session 3B in 3 parts:

Part 1: 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM [1.5 PDH] Federal Issues Facing the 119th Congress Impacting the Surveying Profession, presented by John Byrd

Part 2: 3:00 PM – 4:05 PM [1 PDH] Workforce Development, presented by Houston Blackwood

Part 3: 4:10 PM – 5:00 PM [1 PDH] Ethics, presented by Thomas Brooks

6:00 PM – 9:00 PM Bingo with raffle ticket prizes. All proceeds benefit the ASPLS Student Scholarships Hickory Lounge. Food and drink tickets will be provided. Spouses welcome!

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

7:00 AM: Registration and Breakfast with Exhibitors

7:00 AM - 7:50 AM Session 4 [1 PDH] - Mississippi Standards of Practice, presented by Thomas Brooks

8:00 AM – 11:30 AM Session 5A [3.5 PDH] – How to fix a Boundary Line Part 1, presented by Kristopher Kline

8:00 AM – 11:30 AM Session 5B [3.5 PDH] – Mentoring, presented by Milton Denny

8:00 AM – 11:30 AM Session 5C [3.5 PDH] – CST Training, presented by Jason Bailey

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM Lunch with Exhibitors

12:30 PM Raffle Drawings with Exhibitors

1:00 PM Exhibits Close

1:00 PM – 5:00 PM Session 6A [4.0 PDH] – Standards of Practice, presented by Jason Bailey

1:00 PM – 5:00 PM Session 6B [4.0 PDH] – How to fix a Boundary Line Part 2, presented by Kristopher Kline

1:00 PM – 4:30 PM Optional CST Test

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM Corn Hole games on the patio by the Hickory Lounge. Food and drink tickets will be provided. Spouses welcome!

Total 15.5 PDHs

Spouses program will have access to each of the meals and group activities and optional excursions. 

Session Descriptions

Session 1A (and 3A): Railroads--Getting on Track. Numerous lawsuits emphasize the problems facing the surveyor who attempts to determine the limits and nature of property rights associated with rail lines. This course focuses on Railroad corridors and rights of way with specific focus on understanding how the courts determine the location and limits of ownership along a rail corridor. Federal law and its relationship to state standards is included, along with discussion of "Rails to Trails" and Railroad Abandonment. (full day)

Session 1C: History of Alabama Land Surveying “The Faircloth Notes”. During the great depression engineering work was hard to find. Most of the recent University of Alabama engineering graduates turned to doing surveying work. E. E. Todd an Alabama surveyor would come across work performed by these engineering students that was sub-par and not done according to governmental regulations. Todd wrote a letter to Professor Faircloth head of the engineering department about the poor quality of survey work by Alabama students. This lead to a number of meeting between the two men and resulted in the Faircloth notes, being the material used in the engineering program.  Review the workbook used by Professor Faircloth in class, that became the handout material used by the Board of Registration to test future surveyors on Alabama surveying. Original samples will be available in class for review. A part of the Faircloth is information on the native people and the role Indian boundaries in the history of Alabama. Included will be the role of GLO notes in original surveys.

Session 3B: Part 1: NSPS Federal lobbyist John "JB" Byrd of Miller/Wenhold Government Affairs will discuss recent and current legislation and government policies in Congress and at the Federal level that affect surveyors. This session will enable surveyors to be knowledgeable of legislation and recently passed laws that may provide business opportunities, as well as potential threats to their practice and clients.

Part 3: This course will explore the various types of ethical problems encountered by a surveyor on a daily basis. It will accomplish this by examining several sample situations. After a period of examination and discussion the course will discuss how the law and/or rules for surveyors in Alabama and surrounding states handle each situation.

Special Session 4: Mississippi Standards of Practice. Participants will understand the legal and ethical frameworks governing land surveying, identify Mississippi-specific standards, apply best practices for documentation, accuracy, and reporting and recognize common pitfalls and disciplinary actions in the field. 

Session 5A (and 6B): How to Fix a Boundary Line (and How NOT to). This course examines various legal mechanisms which courts apply in order to fix the location of a disputed or uncertain boundary line or easement. Topics include: Adverse Possession, Acquiescence, Boundary by Estoppel, Conditional and Consentable Boundary Lines, Practical Location, and Parol vs. written agreements. A segment on the doctrine of Merger is also included. (full day)

Session 5B: Mentoring. Surveying if done right can be a very complex subject. Start by understanding the original rules of the GLO on how surveys are to be performed. Then make an effort to understand how the surveys were carried out. The people doing them and their methods. How this related to early Alabama and what impact it has on a modern survey. How does our modern equipment relate to original equipment and relating them to each other. How do I research original records and are they still meaningful. How do I recognize evidence found in the field and proof a surveying corner. When you start to understand these principals you are on your way to becoming a good surveyor.

Session 5C: CST Training. 1/2 day session reviewing the NSPS CST program and a review of some of the content contained in the Level 1 CST exam.

Session 6A: Standards of Practice. A review of the recently updated Standard of Practice for Land Surveying in the State of Alabama (effective January 1, 2025).  This course qualifies for your 4 hour PDH requirement.

Additional session descriptions coming soon.

Speaker Bios

Jason Bailey is President/Principal Surveyor at Bailey Land Group. He has more than 35 years of experience in both military and civilian land surveying. He has performed land surveys all over the world to include a hydrographic survey of the Persian Gulf, a resurvey of Kadena Airfield in Okanawa, Japan, and numerous ALTA/ACSM Land Title, Boundary/Topographic, and Communication Tower Surveys in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee. Mr. Bailey has experience in GPS positioning, flood certifications, construction layout, subdivision platting, mortgage, route, and utility surveys, ROW and easement dedications, and GIS data collection. He currently is responsible for the overall operation of his business that includes all aspects of the surveying process from the initial proposal to the coordination of the field work, processing field data, managing the CADD process, calculating the boundaries, performing the research and delivering the final product.  He is currently the Secretary/Treasurer for ASPLS as well as past president for the society. He serves on several committees within ASPLS including being the chairman of the Professional Practices committee, the GIS committee, the Trig-Star committee and is a member of the Resolutions and By-Laws committee, the Nominating committee and the Ethics committee.

Thomas Brooks is a Professional Surveyor with HGA based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He is licensed in Alabama and eighteen other states with over thirty-five years of professional experience. From 1986 until 2008 Thomas ran his own surveying firm, Brooks & Brooks, Inc., in Tuscaloosa Alabama, specializing in Corps of Engineers contracts, cell towers, pipelines, and ALTA surveys. Since then, Thomas has held responsibilities for pipeline surveys nationwide and has supervised up to forty-five survey crews, ensuring proper training and quality control. Thomas is a past-president of both the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS- 2001) and the Alabama Society of Professional Land Surveyors (ASPLS - 2013). He served as chair of the Council on Federal Procurement of Architectural and Engineering Services (COFPAES). Currently, Thomas is a member of the ALTA/NSPS Standards Committee, the NSPS PAC, and the Scouting Committee. Thomas taught surveying merit badge at three Boy Scout national jamborees and rewrote an edition of the Survey Merit Badge Book. He has served as an expert witness on boundary disputes and condemnation cases. Thomas has presented on various surveying topics, including rights-of-ways and easements, standards, safety and ethics. In his spare time, Thomas and his wife, Jeanine, enjoy traveling having visited all fifty states and over 350 national parks.

John "JB" Byrd is President of Miller/Wenhold Government Affairs specializing in government relations with over 20 years in advocacy, policy, and strategic initiatives. Following his undergraduate degree in History from James Madison University combined with his MBA from Winthrop University, JB began working in the Federal policy arena in October 2001 as an aide to a U.S. Senator. Currently, JB is the registered federal lobbyist for the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) and was the first Government Affairs Manager for MAPPS. He has served as the lead staffer for the Digital Coast Partnership Advocacy Coalition since 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) Coalition since 2014, and the Coalition for the White House Conference on Small Business (WHCSB) since 2015. JB now lobbies for the Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) Association, the U.S. Geospatial Executives Organization (USGEO), and individual firms as clients. He was recognized as a “Top Lobbyist” by the National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics (NILE) in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2024. In July 2022, JB testified before the House Committee on Natural Resources in support of USGS 3DEP, Sinkhole Mapping, and the enactment of the FLAIR Act.

Milton E. Denny is a registered surveyor in six states, and a veteran of land surveying, aerial mapping and GIS. His special interest has always been in project development and management of firms. He is a past president of the Alabama Society of Professional Land Surveyors, a Fellow in the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping and served for many years on the Board of Direction. Mr. Denny is the author of many manuals dealing with surveying, mapping and GIS. He is a nationally known speaker and lecturer on these subjects and wrote a column called “The Business Side” for a trade magazine for many years. He was instrumental in the starting of a new member organization in the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping called the “Geographic and Land Information Society”.

Kristopher M. Kline, president of 2Point, Inc., became licensed in North Carolina in1991 and is a 1999 graduate of the North Carolina Society of Surveyors (NCSS) Institute. Kris served for 3 years as Chairman of the NCSS Education Committee. His present business focuses on teaching, publishing, and consulting services for boundary/easement disputes. In 2003, Kris began offering continuing education courses in North Carolina on legal aspects of retracement. Since 2010, his teaching career has expanded to include conferences and seminars nationwide. Kris has presented several keynote addresses for state conventions. In 2020, Kris and his wife, Robyn, assumed administration of Surveyors Educational Seminars, a continuing education program originally developed by Dr. Ben Buckner, and later operated by Donald A. Wilson and his wife Christine. Kris has published five books—the most recent, “Whatever Floats Your Boat: Riparian Principles” (2024) is a comprehensive study of riparian and littoral laws and concepts across the nation. Kline also is the author of the second edition of the Washington State Common Law of Surveys and Property Boundaries, available from the Land Surveyors Association of Washington (LSAW.) Kline has written over 80 technical articles for various publications. Written for a national audience and generally focused on various legal aspects of boundary retracement, many are now available on his blog at www.2point.net.

Additional Speaker Bios coming soon.