Current through February, 2024
(a) Requirements for establishing,
purchasing, or altering.
(1) It shall be
unlawful to establish a mortuary without the approval of plans and
specifications by the director.
(2)
Any person desiring to establish or purchase a mortuary shall make application
to the director, submitting a complete set of plans and specifications
therefore, with full description of the grounds, buildings, roads, water
supply, and sewage disposal system.
(3) The approved plans and specifications of
a mortuary shall not be changed without the prior written approval of the
director. The facility shall be built or established only in accordance with
approved plans.
(b)
Equipment and sanitation.
(1) A mortuary
shall be devoted exclusively to the business of providing funeral services and
shall include a preparation room equipped with tile or cement floor, necessary
drainage, ventilation, and provided with proper and convenient receptacles for
refuse, bandages, cotton, and other waste material and supplies, embalming
tables, hoppers, sinks, instruments, and other appliances used in the embalming
of dead human bodies for burial or transportation.
(2) All mortuaries shall be kept and
maintained in a clean and sanitary condition and all equipment, instruments and
appliances used in the preparation of dead human bodies for burial or other
disposition, shall be thoroughly cleansed and sterilized immediately after each
individual case. No linens, sheets, and other materials of any kind, smocks or
gowns, which shall have come in contact with any dead human body, shall be used
more than once without being laundered, and such linens, sheets, and other
materials, gowns, or smocks, shall be sanitized in a disinfectant before being
laundered or before they leave the premises to be laundered.
(c) Licensing.
(1) Each mortuary in the State shall upon
application and payment of a fee of $50, be licensed by the director, provided
that the mortuary has been approved in accordance with §
11-22-3(b)
(1), and further provided that an embalmer, licensed by the director, is
employed full-time by the mortuary, except that the director may approve a
part-time embalmer in unusual circumstances; and that the person in charge of
the mortuary shall have his name, residence, and official title registered with
the director.
(2) Each licensed
mortuary shall, between July 1 and 10 of each year, renew its license by
registering with the director, paying a renewal fee of $10, and being inspected
and approved by the director within three months immediately preceding the date
of registration for renewal. Every license that is not renewed shall expire on
August 1, and shall not be renewed except upon payment of $25 and compliance
with other provisions for renewals.
(3) The director shall be notified when there
is a change in the person in charge of a mortuary, and the new officer shall
register with the director in accordance with §
11-22-3(c)
(1).
(d) Employment of
part-time embalmers. Mortuaries employing licensed embalmers on a part-time
basis in addition to a full-time embalmer as required by §
11-22-3(c)
(1), shall be required to have a contract in writing with the employee showing
a bona fide employer-employee relationship and such agreement shall be
available for inspection by the director.
(e) Soliciting. A mortuary authority shall
not authorize or ratify the solicitation of funeral or embalming business,
after a death, or while a death is impending, by its employees, agents, or by
commission persons. Violation of this provision shall constitute grounds for
suspension of license in addition to the penalty provided in §
11-22-8.
This section does not prohibit general advertising or the sale of insurance
plans involving embalming and funeral services.
