(1) No person shall engage in, or attempt to engage in, embalming or funeral directing in the Commonwealth of Kentucky unless the person is licensed under the provisions of this chapter.
(2) All Kentucky-licensed persons who practice embalming or funeral directing in Kentucky shall practice from a funeral establishment that is licensed to operate under the provisions of this chapter.

Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 316.030

  • Board: means the Kentucky Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors. See Kentucky Statutes 316.010
  • Embalmer: means a person who preserves, restores, and disinfects dead human bodies by the application of chemical substances either externally or internally, or both. See Kentucky Statutes 316.010
  • establishment: means : (a) A full-service funeral establishment. See Kentucky Statutes 316.010
  • Funeral: means the ceremonies or services related to the final disposition and interment of a human body or body parts. See Kentucky Statutes 316.010
  • Funeral director: means a person who, for profit, engages in or represents himself or herself as engaged in the supervision, direction, and arrangement of funeral services, transportation, burials, and disposals of dead human bodies. See Kentucky Statutes 316.010
  • Supervision: means responsibility for the professional activities of the funeral establishment that requires a Kentucky-licensed funeral director or a Kentucky- licensed embalmer, as appropriate, to be on the premises when the funeral establishment is in use. See Kentucky Statutes 316.010
  • Sworn: includes "affirmed" in all cases in which an affirmation may be substituted for an oath. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Year: means calendar year. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010

(3) One (1) member of every firm, and one (1) officer and one (1) stockholder of every corporation, that engages in embalming and funeral directing in Kentucky, shall be a Kentucky-licensed embalmer and a Kentucky-licensed funeral director.
(4) The board shall issue an embalmer’s license to an applicant who: (a) Is at least eighteen (18) years of age;
(b) Is of good moral character;
(c) Possesses a high school diploma or a High School Equivalency Diploma;
(d) Has received an associate degree in funeral services from a college or university accredited by the American Board of Funeral Service Education;
(e) Has served an apprenticeship of one (1) year in a Kentucky funeral establishment under the supervision of a Kentucky-licensed embalmer;
(f) Has taken an active part during the apprenticeship in assisting with the embalming of at least twenty-five (25) dead human bodies under the direct supervision of a Kentucky-licensed embalmer;
(g) Has paid to the board an examination fee as set out in administrative regulations promulgated by the board; and
(h) Has passed an examination prepared or approved by the board. (5) The board shall issue a funeral director’s license to an applicant who:
(a) Is at least eighteen (18) years of age; (b) Is of good moral character;
(c) Possesses a high school diploma or a High School Equivalency Diploma;
(d) Has served an apprenticeship of three (3) consecutive years in a Kentucky funeral establishment under the supervision of a Kentucky-licensed funeral director. An associate degree in funeral services from a college or university accredited by the American Board of Funeral Service Education shall substitute for two (2) years of the apprenticeship. The completion of thirty (30) semester credit hours or the equivalent from an accredited college or university shall substitute for one (1) year of the apprenticeship. At no time shall more than two (2) years of the apprenticeship be substituted;
(e) Has taken an active part during the apprenticeship in assisting with the management of at least twenty-five (25) funerals under the direct supervision of a Kentucky-licensed funeral director;
(f) Has paid to the board an examination fee as set out in administrative
regulations promulgated by the board; and
(g) Has passed an examination prepared or approved by the board.
(6) An applicant may serve embalming and funeral directing apprenticeships concurrently.
(7) At the beginning of an apprenticeship, an applicant for an embalmer’s or a funeral director’s license shall:
(a) Appear before the board;
(b) Pay to the board a registration fee as set out in administrative regulations promulgated by the board; and
(c) File with the board the sworn statement of the supervising Kentucky-licensed embalmer or the Kentucky-licensed funeral director averring that the applicant will work full-time under supervision in the funeral establishment and will receive a regular salary.
(8) An applicant shall work full-time in the funeral establishment during the apprenticeship and shall receive a regular salary.
(9) An applicant shall file with the board semiannually during the apprenticeship sworn statements by the applicant and the supervising Kentucky-licensed embalmer or Kentucky-licensed funeral director setting out the number of hours worked, the number of embalmings or funerals in which the applicant has assisted, and the salary received.
(10) A Kentucky-licensed embalmer or a Kentucky-licensed funeral director shall not supervise more than five (5) applicants serving apprenticeships at any one (1) time.
Effective: June 29, 2021
History: Amended 2021 Ky. Acts ch. 23, sec. 1, effective June 29, 2021. — Amended
2017 Ky. Acts ch. 63, sec. 29, effective June 29, 2017. — Amended 2004 Ky. Acts ch. 69, sec. 1, effective July 13, 2004. — Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 149, sec. 2, effective July 15, 1996. — Amended 1988 Ky. Acts ch. 125, sec. 4, effective July 15,
1988. — Amended 1970 Ky. Acts ch. 120, sec. 9. — Amended 1960 Ky. Acts ch. 52, sec. 3, effective June 16, 1960. — Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. sec. 1599a-7.