ANDERSON — A former county surveyor is running against the man who beat him in the general election four years ago, hoping to reclaim the office he held for 16 years.

Patrick Manship, 50, Democrat, is running against Republican incumbent Brad Newman, who’s served as the Madison County surveyor since 2004 when he unseated Manship.

The two have a long history with one another. Newman, 38, worked under Manship in the surveyor’s office from 1988 to 1999 before leaving to work for an Indianapolis engineering firm.

Neither of the candidates is a licensed surveyor, but Newman said that is to be expected of the county seat since licensed surveyors often make more money than the county surveyor’s salary, which is roughly $48,500.

Both candidates have an extensive history in surveying and drainage maintenance. Over the past 35 years, Manship has worked for his father’s Anderson business, John Manship and Associates Land Surveying.

The business, which has 80 years of survey records under its belt, will likely close in the next two years, according to Manship. If he is not elected as county surveyor, Manship expects that he will find surveying work outside of Madison County.

Newman also has over 20 years experience in surveying. After working in both the county surveyor’s office and the offices of First Group Engineering in Indianapolis, Newman began work as a contract surveyor until 2004 when he won the county surveyor seat.

In that time, the county plat book has been digitized, allowing the county to bring surveying into the 21st century.

The old filing system, Newman said, was extremely antiquated.

Since he began digitizing the plats and various maps of the county in 2005. Newman said his department, which includes six full-time workers and three part-time workers, has scanned over 300,000 documents into the new system.

Manship believes the new technology is a benefit to the county, but said it’s not being used properly. Manship complained that he and other land surveyors have found difficulty in accessing public land records under the new system. Newman disputes any problems under the new system.

Newman believes the most pressing issue facing the county surveyor’s office is area drainage. “Drainage has been neglected in this county for decades. There are so many people in this county that have serious drainage problems.”

The county surveyor is in charge of over 500 regulated drains within the county that span 835 miles.

Manship hopes to balance the budget of the surveyor’s office. “There was a surplus of $50,000 in the account when I left. Now the current surveyor has borrowed money to buy trucks.”

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What does a county surveyor do?

- Supervises the construction, reconstruction, and maintenance of regulated drains.

- Maintains a drainage report depicting regulated drains in need of maintenance, in need of reconstruction, or in need of vacation.

- Investigates alleged obstructions of drains and natural watercourses.

- Perpetuates the locations of survey section corners.

- Maintains the Plat Book Maintenance Department.

The surveyor also serves on the following commissions and committees: Madison County Planning Commission, Madison County Technical Review Committee, Madison County Plat Review Committee, Madison County Council of Governments Technical Committee, Madison County Council of Governments Policy Committee, Madison County Council of Governments Finance Committee, Madison County Data Board and Madison County Drainage Board as technical advisor (non-voting member).