Scroll to History Page
Scroll to Previous Versions Links List
Scroll to Full Text
Download This Bill in Microsoft Word format
Current Status Bill Number:View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.185 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:Senate Introduced Date:20010123 Primary Sponsor:Alexander All Sponsors:Alexander Drafted Document Number:l:\council\bills\nbd\11124ac01.doc Residing Body:Senate Current Committee:Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee 12 SLCI Subject:Funeral directors, embalmers; licensure and permit requirements when out-of-state; crematories, Cemeteries History Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved ______ ________ ______________________________________ _______ ____________ Senate 20010123 Introduced, read first time, 12 SLCI referred to Committee Versions of This Bill
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 40-19-235 SO AS TO ELIMINATE THE FIVE-YEAR PRACTICE REQUIREMENT FOR A NONRESIDENT TO BE LICENSED AS AN EMBALMER OR FUNERAL DIRECTOR IN THIS STATE AND TO ESTABLISH QUALIFICATIONS FOR LICENSURE WHEN THE LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS IN ANOTHER STATE ARE NOT SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO REQUIREMENTS IN THIS STATE; TO ADD SECTION 40-19-265 SO AS TO ESTABLISH PERMIT REQUIREMENTS FOR FUNERAL HOMES, BRANCH FUNERAL HOMES, RETAIL SALES OUTLETS, AND A CREMATORY; TO AMEND SECTION 40-19-20, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS CONCERNING EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS, SO AS TO REVISE, AMONG OTHER DEFINITIONS, "BRANCH FUNERAL HOME", "DISPOSITION", AND "MANAGER" AND TO DEFINE ADDITIONAL TERMS; TO AMEND SECTION 40-19-110, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO GROUNDS FOR MISCONDUCT, SO AS TO PROHIBIT SOLICITING THE SALE OF FUNERAL MERCHANDISE AND TO CLARIFY OTHER GROUNDS; TO AMEND SECTION 40-19-230, RELATING TO QUALIFICATIONS FOR LICENSURE, SO AS TO CHANGE THE ACCREDITING BODY FOR EMBALMING COLLEGES AND TO CONFORM PROVISIONS TO THE REVISED LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR OUT-OF-STATE EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS; TO AMEND SECTION 40-19-270, RELATING TO PERMITS AND INSPECTIONS OF FUNERAL ESTABLISHMENTS AND CREMATORIES, SO AS TO APPLY CERTAIN OF THESE PROVISIONS TO RETAIL SALES OUTLETS; TO AMEND SECTION 40-19-280, RELATING TO THE REQUIREMENT THAT A PERSON BE LICENSED TO HOLD HIMSELF OUT AS PRACTICING FUNERAL SERVICE OR OPERATING A FUNERAL ESTABLISHMENT, SO AS TO APPLY THIS LICENSURE REQUIREMENT TO A PERSON OPERATING A CREMATORY OR A RETAIL SALES OUTLET; AND TO AMEND SECTION 40-19-290, RELATING TO DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION AND EXPENSES TO CLIENTS BY FUNERAL ESTABLISHMENTS, SO AS TO ALSO REQUIRE CREMATORIES TO DISCLOSE SUCH INFORMATION AND EXPENSES TO ITS CLIENTS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 40-19-235. A person holding a valid embalmer or funeral director license in another state or territory having substantially similar requirements to the requirements of this chapter may apply for a license to practice in this State by submitting the appropriate nonrefundable fee, an application on a board-approved form, and a board-certified statement from the state or territory in which the person holds the license and has successfully taken and passed that state law exam. The board may approve an applicant who presents evidence of licensure in another jurisdiction, even though that jurisdiction does not require substantially similar requirements, upon a showing that the applicant has engaged in the licensed practice of funeral service for at least one year and the applicant has achieved a passing score on an examination approved by the board."
SECTION 2. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 40-19-265. (A) A permit for a funeral home may be issued if the applicant:
(1) submits an application on a form approved by the board;
(2) submits to and successfully passes an inspection approved by the board;
(3) submits the applicable nonrefundable fee;
(4) designates a manager who meets the requirements of Section 40-19-20(16) and is current and in good standing with the board and lives within a radius of twenty-five miles of the establishment;
(5) possesses the necessary equipment or merchandise, or both, required by regulation;
(6) is in full compliance with Section 40-19-290.
(B) A permit for a branch funeral home may be issued if the applicant:
(1) submits an application on a form approved by the board;
(2) submits to and successfully passes an inspection approved by the board;
(3) submits the applicable nonrefundable fee;
(4) designates a manager who meets the requirements of Section 40-19-20(16) and is current and in good standing with the board and lives within a radius of twenty-five miles of the establishment;
(5) possesses the necessary equipment or merchandise, or both, required by regulation;
(6) is in full compliance with Section 40-19-290;
(7) provides the name of the parent funeral home.
(C) A permit for a retail sales outlet may be issued if the applicant:
(1) submits an application on a form approved by the board;
(2) submits to and successfully passes an inspection approved by the board;
(3) submits the applicable nonrefundable fee;
(4) provides a performance bond or other security in the form prescribed by the board in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars;
(5) is in full compliance with Section 40-19-290.
(D) A permit for a crematory may be issued if the applicant:
(1) submits an application on a form approved by the board;
(2) submits to and successfully passes an inspection approved by the board;
(3) submits the applicable nonrefundable fee;
(4) designates a manager who meets the requirements of Section 40-19-20(16) and is current and in good standing with the board and lives within a radius of twenty-five miles of the establishment;
(5) possesses the necessary equipment or merchandise, or both, required by regulation;
(6) is in full compliance with Section 40-19-290;
(7) provides evidence of employment of a factory trained operator.
(E) An application for a permit issued pursuant to this section must identify every person having the ability to direct the management or policies, or both, of the funeral establishment including, but not limited to, corporate officers employed, shareholders, partners, and other representatives of the corporation or business."
SECTION 3. Section 40-19-20 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 380 of 1998, is further amended to read:
"Section 40-19-20. As used in this chapter:
(1) 'Advertisement' means the publication, dissemination, circulation, or placing before the public an announcement or statement in a newspaper, magazine, or other publication in the form of a book, notice, circular, pamphlet, letter, handbill, poster, bill, sign, placard, card, label, or tag, or over radio or television. The term does not include funeral or death notices and obituaries.
(2) 'Apprentice' means a person who is preparing to become licensed for the practice of embalming and funeral directing under the supervision and instruction of a person licensed for the practice in this State and who is registered with the board pursuant to Section 40-19-120.
(3) 'Board' means the South Carolina State Board of Funeral Service.
(4) 'Branch funeral home' means an establishment separate and apart from the licensed parent funeral home that has either embalming facilities, a chapel, a lay-out room, or a sales room, or both any combination of these.
(5) 'Chapel' means a separate facility from the parent funeral home that has only layout or chapel facilities, or both, but does not have embalming facilities or a sales room.
(6) 'Cremation' or 'calcination' means the reduction of the dead body by intense heat to residue.
(7)(6) 'Crematory' means an establishment in which the dead body is reduced to residue by intense heat.
(8)(7) 'Disposition' means the final disposal of the body whether by earth interment, aboveground burial, cremation, burial at sea, or delivery to a medical institution for lawful dissection and experimentation or removal from the State pursuant to obtaining a burial transit permit.
(9)(8) 'Embalmer' means a person licensed by the board to disinfect and preserve or attempt to disinfect and preserve the dead human body, entirely or in part, by the use of application of chemicals, fluids, or gases, externally or internally, or both, by their introduction into the body by vascular or hypodermic injections, by direct application into the organs or cavities, or by other method and includes the restoration or attempted restoration of the appearance of the dead human body.
(10)(9) 'Embalming' means the disinfection of the dead human body by replacing certain body fluids with preserving and disinfecting chemicals.
(11)(10) 'Funeral director' means a person licensed by the board to engage for hire or profit in the profession of arranging, directing, or supervising funerals.
(12)(11) 'Funeral home', 'funeral establishment', or 'mortuary' means an establishment where the practice of funeral service and embalming is practiced. All of these establishments must include the following facilities:
(a) a chapel or parlor in which funeral services may be conducted;
(b) a preparation room equipped with a sanitary floor and necessary drainage, ventilation, necessary approved tables, hot and cold running water, and a sink separate from table drainage, instruments, and supplies for the preparation and embalming of dead human bodies;
(c) a room containing a displayed stock of at least six adult caskets and other necessary funeral supplies;
(d) at least one motor hearse for transporting casketed human remains.
(13)(12) 'Funeral merchandise' means that personal property used in connection with the conduct of funerals or with the transportation and final disposition of a dead human body including, but not limited to, the receptacle into which the body is directly placed caskets, urns, and burial clothing. The term does not mean mausoleum crypts, interment receptacles preset in a cemetery, and columbarium niches.
(14)(13) 'Funeral service' or 'funeral' means a period following death in which there are religious services or other rites or ceremonies with the body of the deceased present.
(15)(14) 'Graveside service' means a rite or ceremony held only at graveside, which is not generally construed as the committal service which follows a funeral.
(16)(15) 'Inspector' means an inspector employed by the board Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
(17)(16) 'Manager' means a licensed funeral director who has been a resident of licensed in this State for at least one year, who is a fulltime regular employee, and who is responsible for and has the binding authority from the owner for the day-to-day management of funeral establishments or crematories including compliance with all applicable laws governed by this chapter and Chapters 7 and 8 of Title 32.
(18)(17) 'Memorial service' means a gathering of persons for a program in recognition of a death without the presence of the body of the deceased.
(19)(18) 'Practice of funeral service' means:
(a) engaging in providing shelter, care, and custody of the human dead;
(b) the practice of preparing the human dead by embalming or other methods for burial or other disposition;
(c) arranging for the transportation of the human dead;
(d) making arrangements at or before the time of death, financial or otherwise, including arrangements for cremation, for providing these services, or the sale of funeral merchandise, whether for present or future use;
(e) engaging in the practice or performing any functions of funeral directing or embalming as presently recognized by persons engaged in these functions.
(19) 'Retail sales outlet' means an establishment wherein funeral merchandise only is sold or provided, or both, to the general public. A retail sales outlet may not contain lay-out or chapel facilities and is restricted solely to the sale of funeral merchandise and may not handle or arrange for the handling or disposition, or both, of dead human remains and may not offer or execute preneed funeral contracts, except as authorized by Section 32-7-10.
(20) 'Owner' means a sole proprietor, partnership, limited partnership, corporation, limited liability corporation, or any business entity possessing authority and control over a funeral establishment."
SECTION 4. Section 40-19-110(3), (14), and (15) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 380 of 1998, are further amended to read:
"(3) soliciting dead human bodies or the sale of funeral merchandise by a licensee or a licensee's agents, assistants, or employees, whether the solicitation occurs after death or while death is impending, but not including general advertising;
(14) violating a state or federal law or municipal or county ordinance or regulation affecting the handling, custody, care, transportation, or final disposition of dead human bodies concerning funeral establishments or the practice of funeral service;
(15) permitting an unlicensed person to make arrangements for a funeral at or prior to need engage in the practice of funeral service."
SECTION 5. Section 40-19-230 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 380 of 1998, is amended to read:
"Section 40-19-230. (A) A person may be issued a license as an embalmer if the person:
(1) is at least eighteen years of age;
(2) has not been convicted of a violent crime or found guilty of a felony or crime of moral turpitude;
(3) has a high school education or the equivalent of a high school education, the equivalence to be determined by the board;
(4) has completed successfully a regular course in an embalming college accredited by the National Conference of State Examining Boards American Board of Funeral Service Education and approved by the board;
(5) has completed a minimum of twenty-four months of service pursuant to Section 40-19-240 as an apprentice under the direct supervision of a licensed embalmer actively engaged in the practice of embalming in this State;
(6) has passed an examination prescribed by the board. A person holding a valid embalmer's license in another state or territory which has been in effect continuously for at least five years is not required to serve an apprenticeship to qualify for examination.
(B) A person may be issued a license as a funeral director if the person:
(1) is at least eighteen years of age;
(2) has not been convicted of a violent crime or found guilty of a felony or crime of moral turpitude;
(3) has a high school education or the equivalent of a high school education and has a minimum of two years of successful attendance at an accredited academic college or successful completion of a regular course of not less than one year, twelve scholastic months, in an accredited mortuary college;
(4) has completed a minimum of twenty-four months of service pursuant to Section 40-19-240 as an apprentice funeral director under the direct supervision of a licensed funeral director actively engaged in the practice of funeral directing in this State;
(5) has passed an examination prescribed by the board. A person holding a valid funeral director's license in another state or territory, which has been in effect continuously for at least five years, is not required to serve an apprenticeship to qualify for examination.
(C) An applicant for licensure must be examined on subjects as are prescribed by the board and the examination must be by a standardized written test. The passing grade must be established by the board in regulation.
An application for examination must be upon a form furnished by the board and must be accompanied by a fee established by the board in regulation. An application for examination must be submitted at least thirty days before the date of the examination.
(D) A person holding a valid embalmer or funeral director license in another state or territory having substantially similar requirements to the requirements of this chapter and has been licensed for a minimum of five years, upon establishing residence in this State, may apply for a license to practice in this State by filing with the board a certified statement from the examining board of the state or territory in which the applicant holds the license, showing the basis upon which the license was granted and a recommendation for licensure. If the board finds that the applicant has fulfilled substantially similar requirements, the board shall grant a license upon receipt of a fee established by the board in regulation and upon satisfying the board that the applicant is familiar with the laws and regulations of this State concerning funeral directing and embalming.
(E) No license may be issued or renewed for a period exceeding one year two years, and all licenses and renewals expire on the thirtieth day of June unless sooner revoked or canceled. The date of expiration may be changed by unanimous consent of the board and upon ninety days' written notice of the change to all persons licensed by the board.
(F)(E) A person holding a license under this chapter may have the license renewed for a one-year two-year period by applying within thirty days preceding or following the expiration of his license, upon forms provided by the board and payment of a renewal fee as established by the board in regulation. A person who fails to renew the license, at the discretion of the board, may have it renewed by making application and appearing before the board and paying a renewal and revival fee established by the board. The license of a person who is engaged actively in the military service of the United States may be held in abeyance for the duration of service, and the licensee may be relieved of the payment of renewal fees as the board considers justifiable and expedient."
SECTION 6. Section 40-19-270 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 380 of 1998, is amended to read:
"Section 40-19-270. (A) No person shall conduct, maintain, manage, or operate a funeral establishment or, crematory or retail sales outlet unless a permit for each establishment or, or retail sales outlet crematory has been issued by the board and is displayed conspicuously in the funeral establishment or crematory, or retail sales outlet. Funeral services held in a private residence, church, or lodge hall require no permit.
(B) The board or its inspector or agents may enter the offices or premises of a funeral establishment, funeral home, mortuary, branch funeral home, chapel, retail sales outlet, or crematory to inspect the premises or observe the training provided to apprentices. Acceptance of a permit constitutes permission for entry to the premises as provided in this section without legal process.
(C) No permit to operate a funeral establishment or crematory may be issued unless the funeral establishment or crematory has a person licensed as a funeral director who resides a reasonable distance from the establishment or crematory and is accessible at all times manager when the establishment or crematory is open for any type of funeral business or activity. The board must be notified within thirty days upon the death, resignation, or incapacity of the manager of a funeral establishment or crematory, the board as provided for in Regulation 57-10(c) and may issue a temporary permit to another person manager upon terms and conditions the board considers to be in the best interest of the community in which the establishment or crematory is located.
(D) An application for a funeral establishment permit or, crematory, or retail sales outlet permit must be made on forms furnished by the board and must be filed with the board before July second of each year accompanied by a fee established by the board in regulation. All permits expire on June thirtieth of each year.
(E) When more than one person proposes to engage in the operation of a funeral establishment or crematory as a partnership or a corporation, one of the partners or corporation officers must be a licensed funeral director and must be registered by the board as the manager of the funeral establishment or crematory. No partner or corporate officer shall hold himself out through advertising or otherwise as being a licensee unless the person is licensed in accordance with this chapter."
SECTION 7. Section 40-19-280(E) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 380 of 1998, is amended to read:
"(E) It is unlawful for a person, partnership, corporation, or association who has not been licensed or registered as provided for in this chapter to transact, practice, or hold himself or itself out as transacting or practicing funeral service or operating or maintaining a funeral establishment, crematory, or retail sales outlet within this State."
SECTION 8. Section 40-19-290 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 380 of 1998, is amended to read:
"Section 40-19-290. (A) The personnel of a funeral establishment or crematory shall make every reasonable attempt to fulfill the desires of the deceased and persons making arrangements both as to services and merchandise, and a full disclosure of all its available services and merchandise must be made before selection of the casket. Before the arrangements are completed, the licensee of the funeral service firm shall disclose fully what is included in the funeral and identify other related expenses such as cemeteries and florists.
(B) Statements of legal requirements or statements relative to the conditions under which embalming is required or advisable must be complete and factual. Representations as to legal requirements for embalming, the use of a casket or other receptacle, and the necessity, if any, of an interment receptacle in connection with a funeral must be truthful, and all legal or cemetery interment requirements must be disclosed.
(C) A funeral service establishment, crematory, or retail sales outlet shall have a card or brochure in each casket stating the price of the casket.
(D) The funeral establishment or crematory shall provide to the persons making the arrangements, at the time the arrangements are completed and before the time of rendering the service, a written statement signed by a representative of the funeral home and by the person authorizing the services showing to the extent then known:
(1) the price of the service that the persons have selected and what is included in the service;
(2) the price of each of the supplemental items of service and merchandise requested;
(3) the amount involved for each of the items for which the funeral service firm shall advance monies as an accommodation to the family;
(4) the method of payment."
SECTION 9. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
This web page was last updated on
Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 11:10 A.M.