By Swinford H.B. No. 2255
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of the sale of certain items used in
1-3 funerals.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subsection C, Section 4, Chapter 251, Acts of the
1-6 53rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1953 (Article 4582b, Vernon's
1-7 Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-8 C. Each funeral establishment shall be required to have a
1-9 physical plant, equipment and personnel consisting of the
1-10 following:
1-11 1. Some facilities in which funeral services may be
1-12 conducted;
1-13 2. A physical plant which meets building standards and
1-14 fire safety standards of the state and of the municipality in which
1-15 the establishment is located;
1-16 3. Access to rolling stock consisting of at least one
1-17 motor hearse;
1-18 4. A preparation room containing facilities,
1-19 equipment, and supplies required by commission rule to ensure the
1-20 provision of adequate embalming services and other facilities
1-21 necessary to comply with the sanitary code of the state and the
1-22 municipality in which the room is located;
1-23 5. A display containing sufficient merchandise to
1-24 permit reasonable selection, including five (5) or more adult
2-1 caskets, two of which must be full-size, with [provided that] the
2-2 least expensive casket being a full-size casket [offered for sale
2-3 by a funeral establishment must be visibly] displayed [without
2-4 concealment] in the same general manner as the other full-sized
2-5 caskets [are] displayed;
2-6 6. Sufficient licensed personnel who will be available
2-7 to conduct the operation of the funeral establishment;
2-8 7. A physical plant located at a fixed place, and not
2-9 located on any tax-exempt property or cemetery; and
2-10 8. A physical plant which meets the health standards
2-11 or health ordinances of the state and of the municipality in which
2-12 the establishment is located.
2-13 It is expressly provided, however, that an establishment
2-14 which functions solely as a commercial embalmer, as that term is
2-15 defined in this Act, shall have a commercial embalmers
2-16 establishment license, but shall not be required to meet the
2-17 requirements of sub-sections 1 and 5 of this paragraph C.
2-18 SECTION 2. Section 4, Chapter 251, Acts of the 53rd
2-19 Legislature, Regular Session, 1953 (Article 4582b, Vernon's Texas
2-20 Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection K to read as
2-21 follows:
2-22 K. A person, including a business entity, that is not a
2-23 funeral establishment for purposes of this Act but that sells
2-24 funeral merchandise or caskets to the public, including a casket
2-25 store or a cemetery, is subject to the provisions of this section
2-26 relating to the sale to the public of funeral merchandise or
2-27 caskets. The commission shall adopt rules as necessary to implement
3-1 this subsection.
3-2 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-3 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.