What are the responsibilities and job description for the FUL-Land Law Examiner. position at Bureau of Land Management?
Duties
Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following:
Requirements
Conditions of employment
This Probationary Period Is An Extension Of The Appointment Process And Therefore Requires The Agency To Determine If Continued Employment Would Advance The Public Interest, Meet The Organization Goals And Mission Of The Agency, And/or Otherwise Promote The Efficiency Of The Service. In Determining If Your Employment Advances The Public Interest, The Agency Will Consider
Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
Qualifications
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-09/18/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. All candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements.
To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.
Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications:
To qualify for this position at the GS-05 grade level:
General Experience Requirement: you must possess at least three (3) years of general experience one (1) year of which was equivalent to at least a GS-4. General Experience is (1) Any type of work that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work of the position, or (2) experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of the occupation. Examples of qualifying experience include: a familiarity with real property laws and legal land descriptions, land titles, tract maps, and legal documents, or other experience that involved explanation, application, or interpretation of laws, regulations, policies, etc. Such experience may have been gained in positions such as law clerk, claims examiner, contact representative, or other work dealing with laws, rules, regulations, procedures, etc. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
Education: Successful completion of at least a four-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Combination of education and experience. To combine education and experience, first take the percentage of a 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree that has been successfully completed. Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts.
To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level:
Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience:
-OR-
Education: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate level education. This includes or supplemented by 12 semester hours of course work related to the administration of land laws. Examples: include course work in land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Combination of education and experience as listed above. You must include hours per week and transcripts.
To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level:
Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience:
-OR-
Education: Successful completion of at least a Master's or equivalent graduate degree or two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D in a field of study such as land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Combination of education and experience as listed above. You must include hours per week and transcripts.
Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Education
You must submit a copy of your transcript(s) to support claimed education if substituting education for experience. Transcripts must include your name, school name, grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, and date the degree was conferred, if applicable. A typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not qualified for the position. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.
Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | U.S. Department of Education.
Additional information
This position will be filled under the Field Unit Local Hiring Authority. Eligibility is limited to applicants who reside within the defined local commuting area at the time of application. For this announcement, the local commuting area is the area from which individuals can reasonably commute to the duty station under normal conditions. The defined vicinity for this position is: 75 miles from BLM Office 2300 River Frontage Rd, Silt, CO 81652. You must provide proof of residency within the defined vicinity (e.g. mortgage or property deed, lease/rental agreement, utility bill, insurance policy, etc.). See the Required Documents section for information on how to verify current residence.
Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.
Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor.
All Department of Interior (DOI) employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here,
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following:
- Collects data on a variety of assigned cases related to lands, oil and gas, mining or minerals cases.
- Determines the accuracy and proper execution of applications or claims and the qualifications of applicants for legal rights as requested.
- Adjudicate routine lands, mining, or mineral leasing applications filed which have more complex statutory and regulatory provisions, require development and review of a considerable amount of data and involve controversial factual situations.
- Determines the accuracy and proper execution of applications or claims and the qualifications of applicants.
- Prepares routine correspondence, including decisions, to process cases.
- Drafts progressively complex adjudication decisions (concerning lands, mining, oil and gas, or mineral leasing cases).
- Independently gathers and researches information and data necessary to complete and adjudicate a legal document.
- Utilizes data, systems and applications to collect, enter, manipulate, update and maintain data according to prescribed Bureau and program standards.
Requirements
Conditions of employment
- Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
- Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
- Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
- Direct Deposit participation required.
- Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit
- You cannot hold an active real estate license, nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Lands.
- A financial disclosure report will be required for the GS-09 within 30 days of appointment.
- You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
- You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 1-3 nights per month. You may be required to obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
This Probationary Period Is An Extension Of The Appointment Process And Therefore Requires The Agency To Determine If Continued Employment Would Advance The Public Interest, Meet The Organization Goals And Mission Of The Agency, And/or Otherwise Promote The Efficiency Of The Service. In Determining If Your Employment Advances The Public Interest, The Agency Will Consider
- your performance and conduct;
- the needs and interests of the agency;
- whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
- whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
Qualifications
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-09/18/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. All candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements.
To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.
Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications:
To qualify for this position at the GS-05 grade level:
General Experience Requirement: you must possess at least three (3) years of general experience one (1) year of which was equivalent to at least a GS-4. General Experience is (1) Any type of work that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work of the position, or (2) experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of the occupation. Examples of qualifying experience include: a familiarity with real property laws and legal land descriptions, land titles, tract maps, and legal documents, or other experience that involved explanation, application, or interpretation of laws, regulations, policies, etc. Such experience may have been gained in positions such as law clerk, claims examiner, contact representative, or other work dealing with laws, rules, regulations, procedures, etc. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
Education: Successful completion of at least a four-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Combination of education and experience. To combine education and experience, first take the percentage of a 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree that has been successfully completed. Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts.
To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level:
Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience:
- Determining the accuracy and proper execution of applications or claims and the qualifications of applicants for legal rights as requested
- Adjudicating routine lands, mining, or mineral leasing applications
- Responding to public and internal inquiries about public land laws and regulations
- Preparing routine correspondence
-OR-
Education: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate level education. This includes or supplemented by 12 semester hours of course work related to the administration of land laws. Examples: include course work in land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Combination of education and experience as listed above. You must include hours per week and transcripts.
- OR-
To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level:
Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience:
- Processing and/or adjudicating basic lands and minerals cases
- Researching and reviewing legal land descriptions and ownership status from various map and records sources
- Using computer software to review, track, and management land-and-mineral-case data
- Communicating effectively with internal and external customers on routine land-management topics
-OR-
Education: Successful completion of at least a Master's or equivalent graduate degree or two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D in a field of study such as land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Combination of education and experience as listed above. You must include hours per week and transcripts.
Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Education
You must submit a copy of your transcript(s) to support claimed education if substituting education for experience. Transcripts must include your name, school name, grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, and date the degree was conferred, if applicable. A typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not qualified for the position. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.
Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | U.S. Department of Education.
Additional information
This position will be filled under the Field Unit Local Hiring Authority. Eligibility is limited to applicants who reside within the defined local commuting area at the time of application. For this announcement, the local commuting area is the area from which individuals can reasonably commute to the duty station under normal conditions. The defined vicinity for this position is: 75 miles from BLM Office 2300 River Frontage Rd, Silt, CO 81652. You must provide proof of residency within the defined vicinity (e.g. mortgage or property deed, lease/rental agreement, utility bill, insurance policy, etc.). See the Required Documents section for information on how to verify current residence.
Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.
Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor.
All Department of Interior (DOI) employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here,
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.