Code of Alabama - Title 34: Professions and Businesses - Chapter 13 - Funeral Services

• Article 1 General Provisions.
• Section 34-13-1 Definitions
  (a) For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) ACCREDITED SCHOOL or COLLEGE OF MORTUARY SCIENCE. A school or...
• Section 34-13-2 Purpose of chapter
  It is declared and established that the procedures for making final disposition of human dead, including embalming and funeral directing, are so affected with the...
• Section 34-13-3 Construction and application of chapter
  Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to give any cemetery or cemetery authority or any other person or entity the right to enter into...
• Section 34-13-4 Publication of statutes and regulations
  Upon request, the board shall distribute to funeral directors, embalmers, and apprentices and such other persons as may be interested therein, in hard copy form,...
• Section 34-13-5 Courts having jurisdiction; initiation of proceedings
  District courts shall have jurisdiction in all criminal prosecutions arising under this chapter. The district attorney is authorized to institute criminal prosecutions for violations of...
• Section 34-13-6 Recourse by a licensee against unreasonable orders or wrongful interpretations by the board
  In the event a licensee under this chapter should have cause to believe that the board, or a member or members thereof, has used the...
• Section 34-13-7 Embezzlement, abstracting, or willfully misapplying moneys collected; bribery
  Any person who embezzles, abstracts, or willfully misapplies any of the moneys, funds, security, or credit of the board or who misuses any of the...
• Section 34-13-8 Certified copy of official documents
  On application of any person and payment of the cost thereof, the executive director of the board shall furnish, under the seal of the board...
• Section 34-13-9 Pricing requirements
  Funeral service, cemetery service, and funeral merchandise pricing shall conform to rules established by the Federal Trade Commission and each funeral establishment shall have a...
• Section 34-13-10 Violations
  Unless otherwise provided herein, violation of any part of this chapter shall be a Class A misdemeanor which may be prosecuted and shall be punishable...
• Section 34-13-11 Authorizing agent; right of disposition
  (a) A person, who is at least 18 years of age and of sound mind, may enter into a contract to act as authorizing agent...
• Section 34-13-12 Truthfulness of documentary information; rights and obligations of funeral establishment; liability
  (a) Any person signing a funeral service agreement, cremation authorization form, or any other authorization for disposition by his or her signature shall attest to...
• Article 2 Board of Funeral Service.
• Section 34-13-20 Creation; composition; qualifications of members; appointment and removal from board
  (a) There is established the Alabama Board of Funeral Service, consisting of nine members, each of whom shall be citizens of the United States and...
• Section 34-13-21 Membership districts
  There are created, for the purpose of this chapter, seven geographical districts which shall be identical with the seven congressional districts as fixed and established...
• Section 34-13-22 Meetings; quorum
  The Alabama Board of Funeral Service shall hold not less than one meeting quarterly, such meeting to be held at such time and place as...
• Section 34-13-23 Officers; rulemaking authority; compensation; executive director; disposition of funds
  (a)(1) The board appointed under this chapter and each successor thereto is authorized to select from its own membership a chair and to adopt and...
• Section 34-13-24 Oath of members
  Every member of the board, after appointment and before entering upon his or her duties, shall make oath before some officer competent to administer oaths,...
• Section 34-13-25 Hearings to be public; record of proceedings
  All hearings provided for by this chapter shall be conducted pursuant to the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act.
• Section 34-13-26 Adoption and enforcement of rules; hearings, investigations, subpoena power, etc
  (a) The board shall adopt and enforce for the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare reasonable rules pursuant to the Alabama Administrative Procedure...
• Section 34-13-27 Seal; scope of rules and regulations
  The board shall adopt a common seal, which may be altered as often as the board may desire, and may adopt and enforce, for the...
• Section 34-13-28 Annual report
  Repealed by Act 2011-623, p. 1439, §2, effective October 1, 2011.
• Section 34-13-29 Audit and payment of expenses
  All necessary expenses incurred in giving examinations to applicants and incidental to the renewal of licenses and all necessary expenses incurred in education and enforcing...
• Section 34-13-31 Appeal from decision of board
  (a) Whenever, by decision, final order, or other final determination upon any public hearing provided for by this chapter, a party to such hearing shall...
• Article 3 Licenses, Examinations, and Registration.
• Division 1 General Provisions.
• Section 34-13-50 Board recognition of schools and colleges
  The Alabama Board of Funeral Service shall recognize and approve and accept applicants for examination from only those established embalming schools or colleges which are...
• Section 34-13-51 Reciprocity of licenses
  (a) The board may recognize and issue, without examination and upon payment of a fee not in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) for each...
• Section 34-13-52 Execution and display of licenses
  (a) Licenses under this chapter shall be granted to individuals upon the qualification and successful examination of the individual applicant and shall specify the name...
• Section 34-13-53 Renewal of licenses; authorization; attestation of identity; records
  (a)(1) Before October 1, 2018, every licensed funeral director, licensed embalmer, and licensed operator shall pay annually a fee for renewal of his or her...
• Section 34-13-54 Transferability
  No license to a cremationist, an embalmer, a funeral director, or a funeral establishment granted under or regulated by this chapter shall be transferable or
• Section 34-13-55 Reinstatement of expired licenses
  (a) When a licensee, for any reason, has allowed a license to expire, the board may reinstate the license if application for reinstatement is made...
• Section 34-13-56 Grounds for revocation, suspension, or refusal to issue or renew licenses, etc.; hearing; fines
  (a) The board may refuse to license any person or establishment for violation of this chapter. If the board refuses to issue, grant, or renew...
• Section 34-13-56.1 Unlawful practice without a license
  (a) It is unlawful for any person or entity, for hire or profit, to engage in, or hold himself, herself, or itself out as qualified...
• Section 34-13-57 Executive director to provide notice of examination
  Fifteen days before an examination, the executive director shall provide to all applicants and all funeral establishments in the state, in electronic format and on...
• Division 2 Funeral Directors.
• Section 34-13-70 License required; filing of application; fee; criminal history background check
  (a) No person shall engage in, or attempt to engage in, the practice or profession or business of a funeral director unless licensed to do...
• Section 34-13-71 Form and contents of application; interview
  An application for a license as a funeral director shall be in writing and verified on a form provided by and addressed to the board...
• Section 34-13-72 Qualifications of applicants; examination requirements; fee
  (a) An applicant for a funeral director's license is entitled to an examination if he or she satisfies all of the following: (1) Is a...
• Section 34-13-73 Scope of examination
  (a) The applicant for a funeral director's license, before the application is granted, shall successfully pass an examination upon, but not limited to, the following...
• Section 34-13-74 Application by surviving spouse upon death of funeral director; operation under special permit by operator
  (a) When a licensed funeral director dies leaving a licensed funeral business with no licensed funeral director, the surviving spouse, or a surviving child of...
• Division 3 Embalmers.
• Section 34-13-90 License required; fees
  (a) No person shall follow, engage in, or hold himself or herself out as engaged in the practice as an embalmer unless licensed to do...
• Section 34-13-91 Application for examination; interview; criminal history background check
  (a) The applicant for an embalmer's license shall make application to the board. The application shall be in writing and verified on a form provided...
• Section 34-13-92 Qualifications of applicants; examination requirements; fee
  (a) In order to qualify for a license as an embalmer, the applicant shall satisfy all of the following: (1) Be a citizen of the...
• Section 34-13-93 Examination of applicant for license
  The board may hold a public examination at least once each quarter for the purpose of examining applicants for an embalmer's license, at such time...
• Section 34-13-94 Scope and conduct of examination
  (a) The board shall examine applicants for an embalmer's license in all of the following subjects: (1) Mortuary management and administration. (2) Legal medicine and...
• Division 4 Funeral Establishments.
• Section 34-13-110 Operation through licensed director or embalmer; name requirements; advertising cremation or cremation services
  (a) Any person, corporation, partnership, society or group owning or operating a funeral establishment coming within this chapter may do so only through the services...
• Section 34-13-111 License required; inspections; transfer of license; change of ownership
  (a) No funeral establishment or branch thereof for the preparation, disposition, and care of dead human bodies shall be opened or maintained unless licensed by...
• Section 34-13-112 Employment of embalmer or director by other establishments; supervision and control; licensing of establishment not to license embalmer or director
  (a) All applications for a license to operate a funeral establishment shall show that a managing funeral director and managing embalmer are employed by the...
• Section 34-13-113 Application for license; inspection of establishment; issuance of license
  (a) Application for a license to operate a funeral establishment shall be made in writing on a form provided by the board. The application shall...
• Section 34-13-114 Reissuing license upon change of name
  (a) An operator of a funeral establishment licensed under subsections (a) and (b) of Section 34-13-113 who desires to change the name of the establishment...
• Section 34-13-115 Revocation, suspension, or refusal to renew license
  (a) The board may revoke, suspend, place on probation, or refuse to renew a license issued to an operator of a funeral establishment or mortuary...
• Section 34-13-116 Penalty for failure to register
  Any person, firm, partnership, society, group, or corporation who has control of a funeral home, mortuary, chapel, funeral establishment, crematory, or mortuary service and fails...
• Section 34-13-117 Disposition of remains
  Disposition of human remains shall occur within 48 hours after the time of death or the time the body is released by the coroner or...
• Division 4A Cremation Services.
• Section 34-13-120 License required; crematory requirements; application and inspection; records; violations; rulemaking authority
  (a) No person, firm, corporation, association, entity, or funeral establishment, or branch thereof, may operate a crematory for the purpose of cremating dead human bodies,...
• Section 34-13-120.1 License requirements; certification
  No person may conduct, maintain, manage, or operate a cremation facility unless licensed to do so by the board. The board may issue a license...
• Section 34-13-121 Cremation procedures; authorization; identification of remains; records
  (a) Human remains shall not be cremated under either of the following circumstances: (1) Within 24 hours after the time of death, unless death was...
• Section 34-13-122 Disposition of cremated remains
  (a) The authorizing agent shall provide to the funeral establishment which the cremation arrangements are made a signed statement specifying the ultimate disposition of the...
• Section 34-13-123 Violations
  The board may refuse to grant, refuse to renew, suspend, or revoke the license of, or fine a cremationist or crematory, after proper hearing and...
• Division 5 Apprentices.
• Section 34-13-130 Apprentice requirements; application; term of apprenticeship
  (a) Every person desiring to engage as an apprentice shall satisfy all of the following: (1) Make application as a funeral director's apprentice or an...
• Section 34-13-131 Annual renewal of certificate
  A certificate of apprenticeship issued as provided for in this chapter shall be signed by the apprentice and shall be renewable annually upon the payment...
• Section 34-13-132 Annual report of apprentices
  All apprentices registered as provided in this chapter shall be under the supervision and control of the board and shall be required to report to...
• Section 34-13-133 Leave of absence
  The board has power to grant leaves of absence and to grant extensions thereof to apprentices registered under the provisions of this chapter. However, no...
• Section 34-13-134 Grounds for suspension, revocation, etc., of certificates; reregistration
  (a) The board has power to suspend, revoke, or place on probation a certificate of apprenticeship where the apprentice is guilty of any of the...
• Article 4 Donor Eye Enucleation Licenses.
• Section 34-13-150 Issuance
  Repealed by Act 2011-623, p. 1439, §2, effective October 1, 2011.
• Section 34-13-151 Promulgation of standards, procedures, regulations, etc., by Board of Funeral Service
  Repealed by Act 2011-623, p. 1439, §2, effective October 1, 2011.
• Section 34-13-152 Compliance by licensee with Uniform Anatomical Gift Act
  Repealed by Act 2011-623, p. 1439, §2, effective October 1, 2011.

Last modified: May 3, 2021