Tennessee funeral-board revokes embalmer’s license, issues fines and warnings across multiple complaints

At a July 2025 meeting, the Tennessee Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers voted on a slate of disciplinary matters brought by board legal staff, approving a revocation, several civil penalties tied to expired licenses and FTC disclosure errors, two complaint closures and a letter of warning in a personnel conduct complaint.

Board legal counsel Bryant summarized the cases and recommendations throughout the session. On complaint 2025004551, Bryant told the board that criminal court judgment documents showed the respondent pleaded guilty on April 17, 2025, to forgery charges — one charge classified as a class E felony for $1,000 or less and another classified as a class C felony for more than $10,000 but less than $60,000 — and that the respondent failed to notify the board as required. Bryant said, “Pursuant to 10 comp r and reg 0660Dash01Dash point 03, respondent is required to report in writing to the board within 10 days the conviction of any felony,” and recommended revocation of the respondent’s embalmer license. The board voted to approve counsel’s recommendation to revoke the embalmer’s license and to authorize a consent order or formal hearing if necessary.

Several routine inspection findings led to monetary penalties for establishments and individuals whose funeral-director licenses had lapsed. In cases arising from a routine inspection on April 28, 2025, the board accepted counsel’s recommendations and imposed civil penalties as follows: complaint 2025027571 — $500 (establishment-level finding that an employee acted as a funeral director during an expired-license period); complaint 2025027581 — $250 (individual license…