78R3017 JMM-D
By: West H.B. No. 856
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of the practice of funeral directing.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 651.201(b), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The commission shall:
(1) provide each licensed funeral director and funeral
establishment with the number of brochures the commission considers
appropriate; and
(2) make the brochure available to the public and
appropriate state agencies.
SECTION 2. Section 651.352(a), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) In this section, "commercial embalmers establishment"
means an establishment that:
(1) embalms for licensed funeral directors or licensed
funeral establishments;
(2) does not sell services or merchandise directly or
at retail to the public; and
(3) meets the requirements for an embalmers license.
SECTION 3. Section 651.402, Occupations Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 651.402. PRACTICE BY [RELATIONSHIP OF] FUNERAL
DIRECTOR [TO FUNERAL ESTABLISHMENT]. A person may act as a funeral
director in directly or indirectly providing funeral services for
compensation by acting as [only if the person]:
(1) an independent funeral director;
(2) [is acting as] a licensed employee of a licensed
funeral establishment that has contracted to provide [those]
funeral services; or
(3) [(2) is] a licensed agent, subcontractor, or
assignee of a [the] licensed funeral establishment that has
contracted to provide [those] funeral services.
SECTION 4. Section 651.404, Occupations Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 651.404. CONSUMER BROCHURE. When funeral services are
discussed, a funeral director or an agent of a [the] funeral
establishment shall provide each prospective customer with a copy
of the brochure prepared by the commission under Section 651.201.
The funeral director or funeral establishment shall print
additional copies of the brochure if the commission is unable to
provide the number of brochures needed by the funeral director or
funeral establishment.
SECTION 5. The heading to Section 651.406, Occupations
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 651.406. PURCHASE AGREEMENT: FUNERAL DIRECTOR OR[;]
FUNERAL ESTABLISHMENT.
SECTION 6. Section 651.406(a), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A purchase agreement must state:
(1) the name, address, and telephone number of the
funeral director or funeral establishment;
(2) the amount paid or owed to another person by the
funeral director or funeral establishment on behalf of the customer
and each fee charged the customer for the cost of advancing funds or
becoming indebted to another person on behalf of the customer;
(3) the printed notice required by Subsection (b);
(4) the name, mailing address, and telephone number of
the commission; and
(5) a statement that complaints may be directed to the
commission.
SECTION 7. Sections 651.407(c) and (e), Occupations Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(c) The funeral director or funeral establishment shall
retain a copy of the written consent for at least two years and
shall make the records of the funeral director or funeral
establishment reasonably available for inspection by:
(1) the commission;
(2) the person who provided the consent; and
(3) the next of kin of the deceased person.
(e) A written consent form used under this section must
contain, in the same size print as the remainder of the form, the
following statement immediately above the signature line for the
form:
"The undersigned authorizes and directs the funeral director
or funeral establishment, including apprentices, and mortuary
students under the direct supervision of a licensed embalmer, and
the funeral director's or funeral establishment's employees,
independent contractors, and agents to care for, embalm, and
prepare the body of the decedent. The undersigned acknowledges
that this authorization encompasses permission to embalm at the
funeral establishment or at another facility equipped for
embalming, including a school or college of mortuary science."
SECTION 8. The heading to Section 651.458, Occupations
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 651.458. UNETHICAL CONDUCT REGARDING PROVIDING
FUNERAL INFORMATION [BY FUNERAL ESTABLISHMENT].
SECTION 9. Section 651.459(a), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A person violates this chapter if the person:
(1) wilfully makes a false statement on a death
certificate or a document required by this chapter or a rule adopted
under this chapter;
(2) engages in fraudulent, unprofessional, or
deceptive conduct in providing funeral services or merchandise to a
customer;
(3) engages in dishonest conduct, wilful conduct, or
negligence in the practice of embalming or funeral directing that
is likely to or does deceive, defraud, or otherwise injure the
public;
(4) causes the execution of a document by the use of
fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation;
(5) directly or indirectly employs a person to solicit
individuals or institutions by whose influence dead human bodies
may be turned over to a particular funeral director, embalmer, or
funeral establishment;
(6) misappropriates funds held by a license holder, a
funeral establishment, an employee or agent of the funeral
establishment, or another depository, that create an obligation to
provide a funeral service or merchandise, including retaining for
an unreasonable time excess funds paid by or on behalf of the
customer for which the customer is entitled to a refund; or
(7) performs acts of funeral directing or embalming
that are outside the licensed scope and authority of the license
holder, or performs acts of [funeral directing or] embalming in a
capacity other than that of an employee, agent, subcontractor, or
assignee of a licensed funeral director or licensed funeral
establishment that has contracted to perform those acts.
SECTION 10. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
(b) The change in law made by this Act regarding a violation
of Chapter 651, Occupations Code, applies only to a violation that
occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. A violation of
Chapter 651, Occupations Code, that occurs before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
violation occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.