Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:848 – A. No person, not certified and registered under the provisions of this Chapter, shall embalm, or pretend to practice the science of embalming, or conduct the business of funeral dir
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:848
- Board: means the Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:831
- Burial: means the act or process of disposing of a human body by depositing it in the earth, at sea, or by any other accepted disposition. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:831
- Certificate: means a license issued by the board. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:831
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Corporation: means a body formed and authorized by law to act as a single person although constituted by one or more persons and legally endowed with various rights and duties. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:831
- Disinterment: means the act or ceremony of extracting a dead human body from the earth or tomb. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:831
- Embalmer: means a person who disinfects or preserves, or both, a dead human body or bodies, entirely or in part, by the use of chemical substances, fluids, or gases ordinarily used, prepared, or intended for such purposes, either by outward application of such chemical substances, fluids, or gases on the body, or by the introduction of same into the body by vascular or hypodermic injection, or by direct application into the organs or cavities. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:831
- Embalming: means preparing, disinfecting, and preserving, either hypodermically, arterially, or by any other recognized means, the body of a deceased person for burial, cremation, or other disposition. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:831
- Firm: means a business unit or enterprise or a partnership of two or more persons not recognized as a legal person distinct from the members composing it. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:831
- Funeral: means the observances held for a dead person usually before burial or cremation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:831
- Funeral directing: means the operation of a funeral home, or, by way of illustration and not limitation, any service whatsoever connected with the management of funerals, or the supervision of hearses or funeral cars, the purchase of caskets or other funeral merchandise, and retail sale and display thereof, the cleaning or dressing of dead human bodies for burial, and the performance or supervision of any service or act connected with the management of funerals from time of death until the body or bodies are delivered to the cemetery, crematory, or other agent for the purpose of disposition. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:831
- Funeral director: means a person to whom a valid license has been issued by the board to perform the duties of funeral directing. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:831
- Funeral establishment: means any place or premises duly licensed by the board and devoted to or used in the care and preparation for disposition of the body of a deceased person or maintained or held out to the public by advertising or otherwise as the office or place for the practice of funeral directing. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:831
- person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
- Preparation: means the actions or processes necessary to make a dead body ready for disposition. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:831
- Reburial: means to transfer or transport a body from one place to another for reinterment. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:831
A. No person, not certified and registered under the provisions of this Chapter, shall embalm, or pretend to practice the science of embalming, or conduct the business of funeral directing; however, a licensed funeral director shall not be required to supervise the disinterment of a dead human body when disinterment and reburial is made in the same cemetery by its designated sexton who shall be responsible to supervise the disinterment and reburial.
B. Every member of a firm or corporation engaged in the practice of the science of embalming or the business of funeral directing, or both, and the manager of each place of business conducted by such firm or corporation, whose duties engage him directly in the care and preparation, or the supervision of the disposal, burial or disinterment of dead human bodies, shall possess a certificate issued under the provisions of this Chapter.
C. It shall be unlawful for anyone to engage in the business of funeral directing or embalming as defined in La. Rev. Stat. 37:831 unless such business is conducted by a duly licensed Louisiana funeral establishment.
D.(1) Only a licensed embalmer may embalm a dead human body.
(2) If the body is to be held by the funeral establishment longer than thirty hours after the time of death, it shall be embalmed or the body may be refrigerated continuously at a temperature not to exceed forty-five degrees Fahrenheit.
(3) If the body is not embalmed or refrigerated, it shall be buried, cremated, or otherwise disposed of within thirty hours after death or as soon as possible after its release by the proper authorities.
(4) If the condition of the body does not permit embalming by the introduction of chemical substances, fluids, or gas into the body by vascular or hypodermic injection or by direct application into the organs or cavities, it shall be embalmed by an outward application of such substances.
(5) Every dead human body shall be disposed of and prepared through a funeral establishment and under the supervision of a licensed funeral home or embalmer.
(6) Notwithstanding any provision of this Part to the contrary, a licensed hospital or medical school may hold a body for more than thirty hours without having the body embalmed and a licensed hospital, medical school, or the Bureau of Anatomical Services may dispose of any tissues or organs according to accepted procedures.
(7) Nothing in this Subsection shall be construed to require embalming if specific practices and beliefs of religious groups prohibit it.
E. The provisions of Paragraphs (D)(1) through (5) of this Section shall not apply to the Anatomical Board (La. Rev. Stat. 17:2271-2280).
F. The provisions of Paragraphs (D)(1) through (5) of this Section shall not apply to accredited schools of mortuary science or funeral service.
Acts 1966, No. 19, §1, eff. June 15, 1966 at 10:30 A.M.; Acts 1974, No. 3, §4; Acts 1983, No. 454, §1; Acts 1990, No. 415, §1, eff. Sept. 1, 1990; Acts 2004, No. 132, §1; Acts 2010, No. 372, §1; Acts 2016, No. 143, §2, eff. May 19, 2016.