(A) The board of embalmers and funeral directors shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119 of the Revised Code for the government, transaction of the business, and the management of the affairs of the board of embalmers and funeral directors and the crematory review board, and for the administration and enforcement of this chapter. These rules shall include all of the following:

Terms Used In Ohio Code 4717.04

  • Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Cremated remains: means all human or animal remains recovered after the completion of the cremation process, which may include the residue of any foreign matter such as casket material, dental work, or eyeglasses that were cremated with the human or animal remains. See Ohio Code 4717.01
  • Cremation: includes processing and may include the pulverization of bone fragments. See Ohio Code 4717.01
  • Crematory: means the building or portion of a building that houses the holding facility and the cremation chamber. See Ohio Code 4717.01
  • Crematory facility: means the physical location at which a cremation chamber is located and the cremation process takes place. See Ohio Code 4717.01
  • Crematory operator: means the person who engages, in whole or in part, in cremation from one or more crematories licensed under this chapter and who has been issued a crematory operator permit under this chapter. See Ohio Code 4717.01
  • Embalmer: means a person who engages, in whole or in part, in embalming and who is licensed under this chapter. See Ohio Code 4717.01
  • Embalming: means the process of chemically treating the dead human body by any of the following to reduce the presence and growth of microorganisms, to temporarily slow organic decomposition, and to restore acceptable physical appearance:

    (1) Arterial injection;

    (2) Cavity treatment;

    (3) Hypodermic tissue injection. See Ohio Code 4717.01

  • Embalming facility: means a fixed location, separate from the funeral home, that is licensed under this chapter whose only function is the embalming and preparation of dead human bodies. See Ohio Code 4717.01
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Funeral directing: means the business or profession of directing or supervising funerals for profit from one or more funeral homes licensed under this chapter, the arrangement or sale of funeral services, the filling out or execution of a funeral service contract, the business or profession of preparing dead human bodies for burial by means other than embalming, the disposition of dead human bodies, the provision or maintenance of a place for the preparation, the care, or disposition of dead human bodies, the use in connection with a business of the term "funeral director" "undertaker" "mortician" or any other term from which can be implied the business of funeral directing, or the holding out to the public that one is a funeral director or a disposer of dead human bodies. See Ohio Code 4717.01
  • Funeral director: means a person who engages, in whole or in part, in funeral directing and who is licensed under this chapter. See Ohio Code 4717.01
  • Funeral home: means a fixed place for the care, preparation for burial, or disposition of dead human bodies or the conducting of funerals. See Ohio Code 4717.01
  • Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
  • Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
  • Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
  • Rule: includes regulation. See Ohio Code 1.59
  • state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
  • Supervision: means the operation of all phases of the business of funeral directing or embalming under the specific direction of a licensed funeral director or licensed embalmer. See Ohio Code 4717.01
  • United States: includes all the states. See Ohio Code 1.59

(1) The nature, scope, content, and form of the application that must be completed and license examination that must be passed in order to receive an embalmer‘s license or a funeral director‘s license under section 4717.05 of the Revised Code. The rules shall ensure both of the following:

(a) That the embalmer’s license examination tests the applicant’s knowledge through at least a comprehensive section and an Ohio laws section;

(b) That the funeral director’s license examination tests the applicant’s knowledge through at least a comprehensive section, an Ohio laws section, and a sanitation section.

(2) The minimum license examination score necessary to be licensed under section 4717.05 of the Revised Code as an embalmer or as a funeral director;

(3) Procedures for determining the dates of the embalmer’s and funeral director’s license examinations, which shall be administered at least once each year, the time and place of each examination, and the supervision required for each examination;

(4) Procedures for determining whether the board shall accept an applicant’s compliance with the licensure, registration, or certification requirements of another state as grounds for granting the applicant a license under this chapter;

(5) A determination of whether completion of a nationally recognized embalmer’s or funeral director’s examination sufficiently meets the license requirements for the comprehensive section of either the embalmer’s or the funeral director’s license examination administered under this chapter;

(6) Continuing education requirements for licensed embalmers and funeral directors;

(7) Requirements for the licensing and operation of funeral homes;

(8) Requirements for the licensing and operation of embalming facilities;

(9) A schedule that lists, and specifies a forfeiture commensurate with, each of the following types of conduct which, for the purposes of division (A)(9) of this section and section 4717.15 of the Revised Code, are violations of this chapter:

(a) Obtaining a license under this chapter by fraud or misrepresentation either in the application or in passing the required examination for the license;

(b) Purposely violating any provision of sections 4717.01 to 4717.15 of the Revised Code or a rule adopted under any of those sections; division (A) or (B) of section 4717.23; division (B)(1) or (2), (C)(1) or (2), (D), (E), or (F)(1) or (2), or divisions (H) to (K) of section 4717.26; division (D)(1) of section 4717.27; or divisions (A) to (C) of section 4717.28 of the Revised Code;

(c) Committing unprofessional conduct;

(d) Knowingly permitting an unlicensed person, other than a person serving an apprenticeship, to engage in the profession or business of embalming or funeral directing under the licensee’s supervision;

(e) Refusing to promptly submit the custody of a dead human body or cremated remains upon the express order of the person legally entitled to the body;

(f) Transferring a license to operate a funeral home, embalming facility, or crematory facility from one owner or operator to another, or from one location to another, without notifying the board and following the requirements of section 4717.11 of the Revised Code;

(g) Misleading the public using false or deceptive advertising;

(h) Failing to forward to the board on or before its due date the annual report of preneed funeral sales required by division (J) of section 4717.31 of the Revised Code. If the annual report is sent to the board by United States mail, it shall be postmarked on or before the due date for the submission of the annual report in order to be timely filed with the board. Mail that is not postmarked shall be considered filed on the date it is received by the board.

Each instance of the commission of any of the types of conduct described in division (A)(9) of this section is a separate violation. The rules adopted under division (A)(9) of this section shall establish the amount of the forfeiture for a violation of each of those divisions. The forfeiture for a first violation shall not exceed five thousand dollars, and the forfeiture for a second or subsequent violation shall not exceed ten thousand dollars. The amount of the forfeiture may differ among the types of violations according to what the board considers the seriousness of each violation.

(10) Requirements for the licensing and operation of crematory facilities;

(11) Procedures for the board to take possession of and to arrange the lawful disposition of unclaimed cremated remains that were held or stored at a funeral home or crematory that has been closed;

(12) Procedures for the issuance of duplicate licenses;

(13) Requirements for criminal records checks of applicants under section 4776.03 of the Revised Code;

(14) The amount and content of corrective action courses required by the board under section 4717.14 of the Revised Code.

(B) The board may adopt rules governing the educational standards for licensure as an embalmer or funeral director, or obtaining a permit to be a crematory operator, and the standards of service and practice to be followed in embalming, funeral directing, and cremation, and in the operation of funeral homes, embalming facilities, and crematory facilities in this state.

(C) Nothing in this chapter authorizes the board of embalmers and funeral directors to regulate cemeteries, except that the board shall license and regulate funeral homes, embalming facilities, and crematory facilities located at cemeteries in accordance with this chapter.

(D) If the executive director of the board has knowledge or notice of a violation of division (A)(1), (3), (5), or (6) of section 4717.13 of the Revised Code or that a person is engaging in the business or profession of funeral directing in violation of division (A)(14) of that section, the executive director shall investigate the matter, and, upon probable cause appearing, cause an attorney employed by or contracting with the board to file a complaint and prosecute the offender. When requested by the executive director, the prosecuting attorney of the proper county or the attorney general shall take charge of and conduct such prosecution.

Last updated February 14, 2023 at 1:49 PM

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