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Committee adopts amendment to revise funeral service code; fines capped and cremation definition updated
Summary
A committee-approved subcommittee amendment to the funeral services bill narrows the manager radius to 50 miles, caps fines at $25,000, removes a separate investigator requirement and adds alkaline hydrolysis to the definition of cremation.
The Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee adopted a subcommittee amendment and reported favorably a bill to update the state Board of Funeral Service code. Committee staff summarized the amendment as the product of agreement among the Board, the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR), Consumer Affairs and stakeholders.
Rebecca, committee staff, told the panel the amendment makes several changes: it clarifies that applicants denied licensure and licensees with suspended or revoked licenses may not participate in a board-licensed business until licensed or restored; it caps fines for willful violations at $25,000; it ties felony‑related licensing restrictions to conduct "directly related to the duties, responsibilities, or fitness of the occupation" consistent with recently enacted second‑chance language (identified in committee as bill 3605); and it amends the definition of cremation to include alkaline hydrolysis.
The amendment removed a provision requiring LLR to provide a separate investigator and instead retained one additional inspector role (the summary says the board will add another inspector; the amendment specifies inspectors who are dual license holders—licensed embalmers and funeral directors). The amendment also restored the use of the term "apprentice" throughout the chapter and reduced a proposed 100‑mile radius for funeral managers to 50 miles.
Senator Gambrell and others complimented the subcommittee and stakeholders for reaching agreement on the changes. The committee adopted the subcommittee amendment by voice vote and then reported the bill favorably as amended.
Ending: With stakeholder agreement and the amendment adopted, the bill was reported favorably and will move forward from committee for further consideration.
