Mo. Rev. Stat. § 60.301 (2026)

  60.301.  Definitions. — Whenever the following words and terms are used in this chapter they shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly indicates that a different meaning is intended:

  (1)  "Corners of the United States public land survey", those points that determine the boundaries of the various subdivisions represented on the official plat such as the township corner, the section corner, the quarter-section corner, grant corner , meander corner, and center of section;

  (2)  "Existent corner", a corner whose position can be identified by verifying the evidence of the original monument or its accessories, or by some physical evidence described in the field notes, or located by an acceptable supplemental survey record or some physical evidence thereof, or by testimony.  The physical evidence of a corner may have been entirely obliterated but the corner will be considered existent if its position can be recovered through the testimony of one or more witnesses who have a dependable knowledge of the original location.  A legally reestablished corner shall have the same status as an existent corner;

  (3)  "Lost corner", a corner whose position cannot be determined, beyond reasonable doubt, either from traces of the original marks or from acceptable evidence or testimony that bears upon the original position;

  (4)  "Monument", the physical object which marks the corner point determined by the surveying process.  The accessories, such as bearing trees, bearing objects, reference monuments, mounds of stone and other similar objects that aid in identifying the corner position, are also considered a part of a corner monument;

  (5)  "Obliterated, decayed or destroyed corner", a position at whose point there are no remaining traces of the original monument or its accessories, but whose location has been perpetuated by subsequent surveys, or the point may be recovered beyond reasonable doubt by the acts and testimony of local residents, competent surveyors, other qualified local authorities or witnesses, or by some acceptable record evidence.  A position that depends upon the use of collateral evidence can be accepted only if duly supported, generally through proper relation to known corners, and agreement with the field notes regarding distances to natural objects, stream crossings, line trees, etc., or unquestionable testimony;

  (6)  "Original government survey", that survey executed under the authority of the United States government as recorded on the official plats and field notes of the United States public land survey maintained by the Missouri department of agriculture;

  (7)  "Proportionate measurement", a measurement of a line that gives equal relative weight to all parts of the line.  The excess or deficiency between two existent corners is so distributed that the amount of excess or deficiency given to each interval bears the same proportion to the whole difference as the record length of the interval bears to the whole record distance:

  (a)  "Single proportionate measurement", a measurement of a line applied to a new measurement made between known points on a line to determine one or more positions on that line;

  (b)  "Double proportionate measurement", a measurement applied to a new measurement made between four known corners, two each on intersecting meridional and latitudinal lines, for the purpose of relating the intersection to both.    When the total length of the line between the nearest existing corners was not measured in the original government survey, the record distance from one existing corner to the lost corner will be used instead of the proportionate distance.  This exception will apply to either or both of the east-west or north-south lines;

  (8)  "Record distance", the distance or length as shown on the original government survey.  In determining record distances, consideration shall be given as to whether the distance was measured on a random or true line.