Sec. 20-222. Inspection certificate. Hearing; appeal. Record-keeping requirements.
Sec. 20-222. Inspection certificate. Hearing; appeal. Record-keeping requirements. (a) No person, firm, partnership or corporation shall enter into, engage in, or
carry on a funeral service business unless an inspection certificate has been issued by
the department for each place of business. Any person, firm, partnership or corporation
desiring to engage in the funeral service business shall submit, in writing, to the department an application upon blanks furnished by the department for an inspection certificate
for a funeral service business for each place of business, and each such application shall
be accompanied by a fee of three hundred dollars and shall identify the manager. Each
holder of an inspection certificate shall, annually, on or before July first, submit in
writing to the Department of Public Health an application for renewal of such certificate
together with a fee of one hundred fifty dollars. If the Department of Public Health
issues to such applicant such an inspection certificate, the same shall be valid until July
first next following, unless revoked or suspended.
(b) Upon receipt of an application for an inspection certificate or renewal thereof,
the Department of Public Health shall make an inspection of each building or part thereof
wherein a funeral service business is conducted or is intended to be conducted, and
satisfactory proof shall be furnished the Department of Public Health that the building
or part thereof, in which it is intended to conduct the funeral service business, contains an
adequate sanitary preparation room equipped with tile, cement or composition flooring,
necessary ventilation, sink, and hot and cold running water, sewage facilities, and such
instruments and supplies for the preparing or embalming of dead human bodies for
burial, transportation or other disposition as the Commissioner of Public Health, with
advice and assistance from the board, deems necessary and suitable for the conduct and
maintenance of such business.
(c) Any person, firm, partnership or corporation desiring to change its place of
business shall notify the Department of Public Health thirty days in advance of such
change, and a fee of twenty-five dollars shall accompany the application for the inspection certificate of the new premises. Any person, firm, partnership or corporation desiring to change its manager shall notify the Department of Public Health thirty days in
advance of such change, on a form prescribed by the Commissioner of Public Health.
(d) The building or part thereof in which is conducted or intended to be conducted
any funeral service business shall be open at all times for inspection by the board or the
Department of Public Health. The Department of Public Health may make inspections
whenever it deems advisable.
(e) If, upon inspection by the Department of Public Health, it is found that such
building, equipment or instruments are in such an unsanitary condition as to be detrimental to public health, the board shall give to the applicant or operator of the funeral service
business notice and opportunity for hearing as provided in the regulations adopted by
the Commissioner of Public Health. At any such hearing, the Commissioner of Public
Health or his designee shall be considered a member of the board and entitled to a vote.
The board, or the Department of Public Health or his designee acting upon the board's
finding or determination, may, after such hearing, revoke or refuse to issue or renew
any such certificate upon cause found after hearing. Any person aggrieved by the finding
of said board or action taken by the Department of Public Health may appeal therefrom
in accordance with the provisions of section 4-183.
(f) Any of the inspections provided for in this section may be made by a person
designated by the Department of Public Health or by a representative of the Commissioner of Public Health.
(g) Any person, firm, partnership or corporation engaged in the funeral service
business shall maintain at the address of record of the funeral service business identified
on the certificate of inspection:
(1) All records relating to contracts for funeral services, prepaid funeral contracts
or escrow accounts for a period of not less than three years after the death of the individual
for whom funeral services were provided;
(2) Copies of all death certificates, burial permits, authorizations for cremation,
documentation of receipt of cremated remains and written agreements used in making
arrangements for final disposition of dead human bodies, including, but not limited to,
copies of the final bill and other written evidence of agreement or obligation furnished
to consumers, for a period of not less than three years after such final disposition; and
(3) Copies of price lists, for a period of not less than three years from the last date
such lists were distributed to consumers.
(1949 Rev., S. 4537; 1951, S. 2261d; 1959, P.A. 616, S. 64; 1967, P.A. 835, S. 3; June, 1971, P.A. 8, S. 72; P.A. 76-436, S. 428, 681; P.A. 77-603, S. 74, 125; 77-614, S. 437, 610; P.A. 89-251, S. 111, 203; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; 95-271, S. 15, 40; P.A. 06-195, S. 13; P.A. 07-252, S. 32.)
History: 1959 act quintupled application fee, raised renewal fee for same and fee when changing place of business from
$10 to $25 and deleted provision in Subsec. (f) that inspector receive such remuneration as board votes; 1967 act substituted
"the department of health" for "board" in Subsecs. (1) and (3) re application for renewal of certificate or for change of
place of business, added "or the department of health as the case may be" in Subsec. (2) and "or the department of health"
in Subsecs. (4), (5) and (6), added to third sentence in Subsec. (5) "or the department of health acting upon the board's
finding or determination" and provided for appeal from "action taken by the department of health" in the same subsection;
1971 act raised application fee from $50 to $100 and renewal fee from $5 to $50 in Subsec. (1); P.A. 76-436 replaced court
of common pleas with superior court and added reference to judicial districts in Subsec. (5), effective July 1, 1978; P.A.
77-603 replaced provisions requiring appeal within 30 days with requirement that appeals be made in accordance with
Sec. 4-183; P.A. 77-614 replaced department of health with department of health services, deleted references to board in
Subsecs. (2), (4) and (6) re applications and inspections, made commissioner of health services responsible for sanitary
standards, rather than board, in Subsec. (2), retaining board in advisory role, replaced 10 days' notice requirement in
Subsec. (5) with requirement that notice and opportunity for hearing to be as provided in commissioner's regulations,
replaced all previous appeal provisions with statement that appeals are to be made in accordance with Sec. 4-183 and, in
Subsec. (6) removed requirement that inspectors hold a license as an embalmer, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 89-251
increased the application fee from $100 to $300 and increased the renewal fee from $50 to $150; P.A. 93-381 replaced
department and commissioner of health services with department and commissioner of public health and addiction services,
effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with
Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 95-271 replaced numeric Subsec. indicators
with alphabetic indicators, changed references from "board" to "department" and made technical changes, amended Subsec.
(a) by deleting prohibition against managing for another, by deleting the requirement that the principals have an embalmer's
or funeral director's license and by requiring an application to identify the manager and amended Subsec. (c) by requiring
30 days' advance notice of a change of place of business, effective July 6, 1995; P.A. 06-195 added Subsec. (g) re maintenance of records relating to contracts for funeral services, prepaid funeral contracts and escrow accounts; P.A. 07-252
amended Subsec. (g) by inserting provision requiring funeral service business to maintain records at address of record on
certificate of inspection, designating existing provisions as Subdiv. (1), adding Subdiv. (2) re 3-year record retention
requirement for copies of death certificates, burial permits, cremation authorizations, documentation of receipt of cremated
remains and written agreements used in making arrangements for final disposition of dead human bodies and adding
Subdiv. (3) re 3-year record retention requirement for price lists (Revisor's note: In Subdiv. (1) the word "shall" and the
comma following were deleted editorially by the Revisors for grammatical accuracy).