A municipality may contract with or employ a city engineer, who must be a licensed professional engineer under chapter 36-18A. If the city engineer is not also licensed as a land surveyor under chapter 36-18A, the city engineer must delegate any duties that are defined in chapter 36-18A as the practice of land surveying to a licensed land surveyor. The governing body shall, by ordinance or contract, prescribe the duties of the city engineer. All surveys, profiles, plans, and estimates made by the city engineer for the municipality are the property of the municipality, must be carefully preserved in the municipality's office or the office of the city engineer, and are open to public inspection.

Source: SL 1890, ch 37 , art XII; RPolC 1903, § 1281; SL 1913, ch 119 , § 100; RC 1919, § 6298; SDC 1939, § 45.1130; SL 2009, ch 35 , § 1; SL 2026, ch 33 , § 19.