The duties and powers of the County Surveyor are defined in the Colorado Revised Statutes (CRS §30-10-903). Also, the County Surveyor is required by state statute to maintain a survey plat records file and index system for these plats. According to the statute, the San Miguel County Surveyor has designated the County Clerk to do such indexing.

Current Elected Surveyor
The County Surveyor is J. David Foley, who was elected in 1989 and is next up for reelection in 2018. Effective January 1, 1995, the Colorado Constitution set term limits for elected officials at the local government level at 2 terms (if the terms are longer than 2 years). Voters in local governments may lengthen, shorten or eliminate the term limits in their jurisdictions. The voters of San Miguel County have voted to eliminate the term limit for County Surveyor.