32-1301

32-1301. Definitions

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Accredited" means recognized or authorized by the American board of funeral
service education.

2. "Administrative costs and expenses" means the cost of copies, transcripts, court
reporter and witness fees, reimbursement for mileage and office of administrative
hearings costs.

3. "Alternative container" means any unfinished wood box or other nonmetal
receptacle or enclosure, without ornamentation or a fixed interior lining, that is
designed for the encasement of human remains.

4. "Apprentice embalmer" means a person who is registered pursuant to this chapter
and who is engaged in embalming under the supervision of a licensed embalmer.

5. "Authorizing agent" means a person who is legally entitled to order the
cremation, disinterment or embalming of human remains pursuant to section 32-1365.02.

6. "Beneficiary" means a person whose future funeral arrangements will be handled
by a funeral establishment pursuant to a prearranged funeral agreement.

7. "Board" means the state board of funeral directors and embalmers.

8. "Business entity" includes any corporation, association, limited liability
company, professional corporation, partnership, limited partnership, sole proprietorship,
business trust, trust, joint venture and other business entity.

9. "Casket" means a rigid container that is designed for the permanent encasement
of human remains and that is usually constructed of wood, metal or synthetic substances
and ornamented and lined with fabric.

10. "Change of ownership" means a transfer of a controlling legal or equitable
interest in a licensed funeral establishment or crematory resulting from a sale or
merger. If the establishment or crematory is operated by a business entity, any transfer
of the ownership of ten per cent or more of the entity constitutes a change of ownership.

11. "Conviction" means a criminal adjudication or conviction by any state or federal
court of competent jurisdiction, including a judgment based on a no contest plea, without
regard to whether civil rights have been restored.

12. "Cremated remains" means the remaining bone fragments after cremation.

13. "Cremation" means the heating process that reduces human remains to bone
fragments by combustion and evaporation.

14. "Cremation container" means a leak and spill resistant, rigid, combustible,
closed receptacle into which human remains are placed before cremation.

15. "Cremationist" means a person who operates a crematory retort, who performs the
actual cremation of human remains and who is licensed pursuant to article 6 of this
chapter.

16. "Crematory" means a building or portion of a building that is licensed pursuant
to article 6 of this chapter and that houses a retort in which only human remains are
cremated.

17. "Disciplinary action" means action taken by the board to revoke or suspend a
license or registration, to impose probationary requirements or civil penalties or to
issue a letter of censure or reprimand to any person who is subject to this chapter and
who violates any provision of this chapter or rules adopted by the board.

18. "Embalmer" means a person who is licensed pursuant to this chapter and who is
engaged in embalming.

19. "Embalmer's assistant" means a person who is registered pursuant to this chapter
and who is engaged in embalming without the supervision of a licensed embalmer.

20. "Embalming" means the implementation of reconstructive procedures and the
process of disinfecting and preserving a dead human body to retard organic decomposition
by treating the body to reduce the presence and growth of organisms.

21. "Financial institution" means a bank, savings and loan association, trust
company or credit union that is lawfully doing business in this state and that is not
affiliated with a funeral establishment.

22. "Fixed price prearranged funeral agreement funded by trust" means any agreement
or combination of agreements that establishes a fixed price for funeral goods and
services, that requires a funeral establishment to provide those funeral goods and
services at the price levels in effect at the time of the execution of the agreement and
that requires the purchaser to convey all or a portion of the accrued interest to the
funeral establishment at the time that the funeral goods and services are actually
provided.

23. "Funded by insurance" means that monies for a prearranged funeral agreement are
paid directly to an insurance company licensed pursuant to title 20 on behalf of the
beneficiary of the agreement.

24. "Funeral directing" means arranging, directing or providing a service in the
disposition of dead human bodies for compensation.

25. "Funeral director" means a person who is licensed pursuant to this chapter and
who is engaged in funeral directing.

26. "Funeral establishment" means a business at a specific location that is licensed
pursuant to this chapter and that is devoted to the care, storage or preparation for
final disposition or transportation of dead human bodies.

27. "Funeral goods and services" means any personal property or services typically
sold or provided in connection with the final disposition of human remains, including
caskets, alternative containers, outer burial containers, cremation containers,
transportation containers, funeral clothing or accessories, monuments, grave markers,
urns, embalming services, funeral directing services and similar funeral or burial
items. Funeral goods and services does not include goods and services sold by
cemeteries.

28. "Good moral character" means that a person:

(a) Has not been convicted of a class 1 or 2 felony by a court of competent
jurisdiction.

(b) Has not, within five years of application for licensure or registration, been
convicted of a felony or misdemeanor if the offense has a reasonable relationship to the
person's proposed area of licensure or registration.

(c) Has not, within five years of application for licensure or registration,
committed any act involving dishonesty, fraud, misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary
duty, gross negligence or incompetence if the act has a reasonable relationship to the
person's proposed area of licensure or registration.

(d) Is not currently incarcerated in or on community supervision after a period of
imprisonment in a local, state or federal penal institution or on criminal probation.

(e) Has not engaged in fraud or misrepresentation in connection with an application
for licensure or registration under this chapter or an examination required for licensure
or registration.

(f) Has not, within five years of application for licensure or registration, had a
license, registration or endorsement revoked or suspended by the board or by the funeral
services licensing authority of any other jurisdiction.

(g) Has not surrendered a license, registration or endorsement to the board or the
funeral licensing authority of any other jurisdiction in lieu of disciplinary action.

(h) Has not practiced funeral directing or embalming without a license in this
state or any other jurisdiction that requires licensure to perform these activities.

29. "Holding facility" means a designated area for the retention of human remains.

30. "Human remains" means a lifeless human body or parts of a human body that permit
a reasonable inference that death occurred.

31. "Intern" means a person who is licensed pursuant to this chapter and who is
engaged in embalming under the supervision of a licensed embalmer.

32. "License" means a written authorization that is issued by the board and that
entitles a person to act as a funeral director, embalmer or intern or to operate a
funeral establishment or crematory in this state.

33. "Licensee" means a person to whom the board has issued a license to act as a
funeral director, embalmer or intern or to operate a funeral establishment or crematory
in this state.

34. "Manage" means:

(a) For a responsible funeral director to exercise control and oversight over all
employees of a funeral establishment and over funeral transactions, including the care of
dead human bodies, funeral services and activities and the documentation and retention of
records.

(b) For a responsible cremationist to exercise control and oversight over all
employees of a crematory and crematory operations.

35. "National board examination" means the test or tests given by the conference of
funeral service examining boards to determine the entry level knowledge and skills of a
person regarding funeral directing and embalming.

36. "Net interest" means interest earned on a prearranged funeral trust account less
applicable taxes, reasonable and necessary charges made by the financial institution and
the annual service fee permitted to be deducted by the funeral establishment according to
section 32-1391.06, subsection B.

37. "Outer burial container" means a container that is designed for placement in a
grave around a casket, including burial vaults, grave boxes and grave liners.

38. "Owner" means a person who owns ten per cent or more of a business entity.
Owner does not include shareholders of companies who have a class of common equity stock
listed or authorized to be listed on the New York stock exchange or the American stock
exchange or listed on the NASDAQ stock market.

39. "Person legally responsible" means the person responsible for burying a dead
body as determined in section 36-831.

40. "Prearranged funeral agreement" means any agreement or combination of agreements
under which a payment is made before the death of the intended beneficiary for funeral
goods and services to be delivered or performed after the death of the beneficiary.

41. "Prearranged funeral trust account" means a trust account that is established at
a financial institution and into which all monies paid on behalf of a beneficiary
pursuant to a prearranged funeral agreement are deposited.

42. "Preparation" means washing, shaving, dressing or arranging hair on, applying
cosmetics to or positioning bodily features on a dead human body and placing a dead human
body in a casket.

43. "Processed cremated remains" means cremated remains after they are pulverized
and cleaned, leaving primarily small bone fragments.

44. "Provisionally accredited" means granted candidacy status by the American board
of funeral service education.

45. "Registration" means a written authorization that is issued by the board and
that entitles a person to act as an apprentice embalmer, an assistant funeral director,
an embalmer's assistant or a prearranged funeral salesperson in this state.

46. "Responsible cremationist" means a licensed cremationist who manages a
crematory.

47. "Responsible funeral director" means a person who is licensed pursuant to this
chapter, who is engaged in funeral directing and who manages and is accountable for a
funeral establishment.

48. "Retort" means an enclosed space within which cremation takes place.

49. "State equivalent examination" means the test or tests provided by the
conference of funeral service examining boards and offered by the board to determine the
entry level knowledge and skills of a person regarding funeral directing and embalming.

50. "Supervise" or "supervision" means a licensed embalmer has responsibility for
and is within sight and sound of a registered apprentice embalmer or licensed intern who
is embalming a dead human body or a student who is assisting in embalming a dead human
body.

51. "Temporary container" means a receptacle that is usually made of cardboard,
rigid plastic or another similar material and that is designed to hold processed cremated
remains until they are placed in an urn or another permanent container.

52. "Trust funds" means all monies deposited on behalf of a beneficiary of a
prearranged funeral agreement funded by trust and all accrued net interest. Trust funds
shall be considered an account kept in suspense until distributed to the beneficiary, the
funeral establishment or the estate of the beneficiary in accordance with this article.

53. "Universal precautions" means the universal blood and fluid precautions
recommended by the centers for disease control of the United States public health service
to prevent the transmission of blood-borne and bodily fluid-borne infectious diseases.

54. "Unprofessional conduct" includes the following acts, whether occurring in this
state or elsewhere:

(a) Commission of a class 1 or 2 felony.

(b) Commission of a felony or misdemeanor if the offense has a reasonable
relationship to funeral directing or embalming. Conviction by any court of competent
jurisdiction or a plea of no contest is conclusive evidence of the commission.

(c) Providing false, misleading or deceptive information on an application for
licensure or registration pursuant to this chapter or on an examination required for
licensure or registration.

(d) Bribing or offering to bribe, directly or indirectly, a member of the board to
influence the member's actions in the performance of the member's duties.

(e) Wilfully interfering with an embalmer, funeral director or cremationist who has
lawful custody of a dead human body in the performance of the embalmer's, funeral
director's or cremationist's duty to embalm or prepare the body for burial,
transportation or cremation.

(f) Paying or causing money or other valuable consideration to be paid to a person,
other than an employee of a funeral establishment, to secure business regulated pursuant
to this chapter from or through the person.

(g) Violating any law of this state or any rule adopted by the department of health
services that relates to the embalming or preparation of dead human bodies.

(h) Certifying falsely to having embalmed or prepared a dead human body that was
embalmed by a person other than a licensed embalmer making the certification or an intern
or apprentice embalmer under the supervision of a licensed embalmer making the
certification.

(i) Falsely advertising or labeling any service or merchandise with the intention
of deceiving the public.

(j) Shipping or delivering any merchandise or supplies that are not the substantial
equivalent of or superior in quality to merchandise or supplies previously presented to
the purchaser as samples.

(k) Committing any act involving dishonesty, fraud, misrepresentation, breach of
fiduciary duty, gross negligence or incompetence if the act has a reasonable relationship
to funeral directing or embalming.

(l) Engaging in any conduct or practice that is reasonably related to funeral
directing or embalming and that is or may be harmful or dangerous to the health, safety
or welfare of the public.

(m) Within a period of five years, having a license, registration or endorsement
suspended or revoked by the board or by the funeral services licensing authority of any
other jurisdiction or surrendering a license, registration or endorsement in lieu of
disciplinary action.

55. "Urn" means a receptacle into which processed cremated remains are placed for
disposition.