| Subchapter
3 |
Embalmers
and Funeral Directors Law - Licensing |
| § 17- 29- 311 |
Violations -
Prohibitions |
| (a) |
The State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors may issue letters of reprimand or caution, refuse to issue a license, suspend or revoke any license for the practice of embalming or funeral directing, or may place the holder thereof on a term of probation after proper hearing upon finding the holder of the license to be guilty of acts of commission or omission, including the following |
|
(1) |
Conviction of a
felony; |
|
(2) |
Misrepresentations
made or fraud committed as a holder of a license; |
|
(3) |
False or misleading
advertising; |
|
(4) |
Solicitation of dead
human bodies by the licensee, his agents, assistants, or employees, whether such
solicitation occurs after death or while death is impending, providing that this
prohibition shall not be deemed to prohibit general advertising; |
|
(5) |
Employment directly or
indirectly of an apprentice, agent, assistant, employee, or other person, on a part-time
or full-time basis or on a commission for the purpose of calling upon individuals or
institutions by whose influence dead human bodies may be turned over to a particular
funeral establishment; |
|
(6) |
The direct or indirect
payment or offer of payment of a commission by the licensee, his agents, assistants, or
employees for the purpose of securing business; |
|
(7) |
Allowing personnel
unlicensed pursuant to this subchapter to execute contracts for funeral service; |
|
(8) |
Aiding or abetting an
unlicensed person to practice embalming or funeral directing; |
|
(9) |
Violation of any
provision of this subchapter and subchapter 2 of this chapter; |
|
(10) |
Violation of any state
law or municipal or county ordinance or regulation affecting the handling, custody, care,
transportation, or final disposition of dead human bodies; |
|
(11) |
Fraud or
misrepresentation in obtaining or renewing a license; |
|
(12) |
Refusing to properly
release a dead human body to the custody of the person or entity having the legal right to
effect such release; |
|
(13) |
Willful failure to
secure a permit for the removal or burial or other disposition of a dead human body; |
|
(14) |
Knowingly making a
false statement on a certificate of death; |
|
(15) |
Violations of
applicable law or regulation with regard to prearranged or prepaid funeral services or
funeral merchandise. However, the proper regulatory agency for prearranged or prepaid
funeral services or funeral merchandise shall have determined that such a violation has
occurred; or |
|
(16) |
Discriminating in
services because of race,creed, color, or national origin; |
|
(17) |
Failure to meet
continuing education requirements; or |
|
(18) |
Failure to answer a
complaint within the 15 day time period. |
| (b) |
No
violation of subdivisions (4), (5), (6), or (7) of subsection (a) shall be deemed to have
occurred when in the ordinary course of business a routine sale of a prearranged or a
prefinanced funeral or of funeral merchandise shall have been made. |
| (c) |
No person
licensed pursuant to this subchapter shall remove or embalm a dead human body when he or
she has information indicating crime or violence of any sort in connection with the cause
of death until permission of the coroner or medical examiner, or some other fully
qualified person acting in such capacity if there is no coroner or medical examiner, has
first been obtained. |
| (d) |
No public
officer or employee, or the official of any public institution, or any physician or
surgeon, or any other person having a professional relationship with any decedent shall
send or cause to be sent to a funeral establishment or to any person licensed pursuant to
this subchapter the remains of any deceased person without having first made due inquiry
as to the desires of the next of kin and of the persons who may be chargeable with the
funeral and expenses of the decedent. If any such kin is found, his or her authority and
directions shall govern except in those instances where the deceased made his or her
arrangements. |
| (e) |
It shall
be unlawful for any person, partnership, corporation, or association who has not been
licensed or registered as specified in this subchapter to transact, practice, or hold
himself or itself out as transacting or practicing embalming or funeral directing, or
operating or maintaining a funeral establishment within this state. |
| (f) |
All dead
human bodies not buried or otherwise disposed of within twenty-four (24) hours after death
shall be embalmed as prescribed in this subchapter or subchapter 2 of this chapter or
stored under refrigeration as determined by the State Board of Health. |
| (g) |
It shall
be unlawful and a violation of this subchapter and subchapter 2 of this chapter to
transport or otherwise transfer by common carrier any dead human body out of the State of
Arkansas unless the body has been prepared and embalmed by a licensed embalmer of this
state and a transit-burial permit has been issued by the local registrar of the county
where death occurred. Any licensee of this state permitting this to be done shall be
subject to the punishment spelled out in this subchapter and subchapter 2 of this chapter.
|
| (h) |
It shall
be unlawful and a violation of this chapter for any person to engage in the practice of
embalming or funeral directing or to hold himself out to the public as a practicing
embalmer or funeral director within the State of Arkansas without being the holder of a
license. |
|
|
| § 17- 29- 312 |
Suspension or
Revocation - Procedure |
| (a) |
Whenever
the board has reason to believe that any person to whom a license has been issued has
become unfit to practice as an embalmer or funeral director or has violated any of the
provisions of this subchapter and subchapter 2 of this chapter, or any rules or
regulations prescribed, or whenever written complaint charging the holder of a license
with the violation of any provision of this subchapter or subchapter 2 of this chapter is
filed with the board, it shall be the duty of the board to start an investigation within
thirty (30) days of the receipt of the complaint. |
| (b) |
If from
such investigation it shall appear to the board that there is reasonable ground for belief
that the accused may have been guilty of the violations charged, a time and place shall be
set by the board for a hearing to determine whether or not the license of the accused
shall be suspended or revoked. Any member of the board shall have the right to administer
oaths to witnesses. The hearing and appeals therefrom shall be pursuant to the Arkansas
Administrative Procedure Act, as amended, § 25-15-201 et seq. |
| (c) |
No action
to suspend, revoke, or cancel any license shall be taken by the board until the accused
has been furnished with a statement of the charges against him and by whom he is charged
and a notice of the time and place of hearing. |
