§ 5-33.2-12 - Funeral establishment and branch offices licenses.
SECTION 5-33.2-12
§ 5-33.2-12 Funeral establishment andbranch offices licenses. – (a) No person, association, partnership, corporation, limited liability companyor otherwise, shall conduct, maintain, manage, or operate a funeralestablishment or branch office unless a license for each funeral establishmentand branch office has been issued by the department and is conspicuouslydisplayed. In the case of funeral services conducted under the license of afuneral establishment held in any private residence, public building or church,no separate establishment license shall be required. A licensed funeralestablishment must be distinct and separate from other non- funeral servicerelated activity for which it is licensed. No license to operate a funeralestablishment shall be issued by the department unless the applicant for thefuneral establishment license has registered with the department a licensedfuneral director/embalmer who shall be in charge as the funeral director ofrecord. The branch office of a funeral establishment must have a separatebranch office establishment license but not a separate funeral director ofrecord. One branch office shall be allowed to operate under the funeralestablishment license, and this one branch office may be permitted to operatewithout a preparation room. Applications for the funeral establishment licenseand branch office shall be made on forms furnished by the division accompaniedby the application fee of seventy dollars ($70.00) for the funeralestablishment and seventy dollars ($70.00) for each branch office. Upon receiptof a completed application and the recommendation of the board, the divisionshall issue a license. All funeral establishment and branch office licensesshall expire on the thirty-first day of December of each year, unless soonersuspended or revoked. A license shall be issued to a specific licensee for aspecific location and is not transferable. The funeral establishment licenseeshall notify the division, in writing, delivered in person or by certifiedmail, within ten (10) days from the date of termination of employment, for anycause, of the funeral director/embalmer of record with the division for thefuneral establishment. The license of the funeral establishment shall expireforty-five (45) days from the date the division was notified by the licensee,if no new funeral director/embalmer is registered with the division. No funeralservices shall be conducted at the funeral establishment without a funeraldirector/embalmer being registered with the division as the funeral director ofrecord for that funeral establishment. Two (2) licensed funeral directors mayoperate jointly at one location if one of their existing funeral establishmentscloses its place of business and joins an existing licensed funeralestablishment. Each firm will hold its own separate establishment license. Onecannot operate a branch office by invoking this section. Human dead remainsshall not be held more than forty-eight (48) hours without embalming or withoutrefrigeration for the purpose of maintaining public health. A funeralestablishment must at the minimum contain a preparation room equipped withtile, cement, or composition floor, necessary drainage and ventilation, andcontaining necessary instruments and supplies for the preparation and embalmingof dead human remains for burial, transportation, or other disposition.
(b) Any person who inherits any ownership interest to afuneral establishment may continue to conduct the business of thatestablishment as their ownership interest would allow upon the following:
(1) Filing with the division a statement of change of factconcerning that inheritance.
(2) Conducting the business of the establishment incompliance with all the requirements of this chapter.