CHAPTER 220

An Act to repeal Chapter 10 of Title 54 of the Code of Virginia, consist-
ing of §§ 54-217 to 54-260, inclusive, and all amendments thereto,
relating to embalmers and funeral directors and to amend the Code
of Virginia by adding in Title 54 thereof a new chapter numbered
10.1, consisting of sections numbered 54-260.1 to 54-260.64, inclusive,
to provide for the examination, regulation and licensing of funeral
directors and embalmers; to define certain terms; to permit certain
reciprocal agreements with other states; to create the Virginia Board
of Funeral Directors and Embalmers and prescribe the powers, duties,
functions and compensation of said board; to prescribe the conditions
under which apprentice funeral directors and embalmers may be
trained; to regulate funeral service establishments; to provide for
the granting, refusal, revocation or suspension of licenses; and to

ide penalties for violation.
{H 401)

Approved March 3, 1956

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That Chapter 10 of Title 54 of the Code of Virginia, consisting of
§§ 54-217 to 54-260, inclusive, and all amendments thereto is repealed.
2. That the Code of Virginia be amended by adding in Title 54 thereof
a new chapter numbered 10.1, consisting of §§ 54-260.1 to 54-260.64,
inclusive, as follows:
Chapter 10.1

FUNERAL DIRECTORS AND EMBALMERS
Article 1
General Provisions

§ 54-260.1. For the purposes of this chapter:

(1) “Board” means the “Virginia Board of Funeral Directors and
Embalmers.” ,

(2) “Funeral Directing’ means the profession or business of direct-
ing or supervising funerals for profit, or the profession or business of
preparing dead human bodies for burial by means other than embalming,
or the profession or business of caring for and disposing of dead human
bodies; or the provision or maintenance of a place for the preparation for
disposition or for the care and disposition of dead human bodies, or the
use in connection with any business or profession of the word, words or
term “funeral director,” “undertaker,” ‘“mortician” or any other word,
CH. 220] . ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 229

words or term from which can be implied the profession, or business of
funeral directing. .

(3) “Funeral Director” means any person who engages in or under-
takes to engage in the profession or business of funeral directing or who
holds himself out to the public as engaging in the profession or business
of funeral directing. _

(4) “Embalm” or “Embalming” means the preservation and disin-
fection, or attempted preservation and disinfection, of the dead human
body by application of chemicals externally or internally or both.

(5) “Embalmer” means any person who engages in or undertakes to
engage in embalming or who holds himself out to the public as engaging
in embalming.

(6) “Funeral Service Establishment” means any place where any part
of the profession or business of funeral directing or any act of embalm-
ing, or either or both, is carried on, conducted or performed, or is per-
mitted to be carried on, conducted or performed.

§ 54-260.2. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to apply to
any merchant or manufacturer who does nothing more than sell caskets
or outside receptacles and delivers the same to a house or to a grave and
who does not hold himself out as a funeral director or engage in the pro-
fession or business of funeral directing. And nothing in this chapter shall
apply to or in any manner interfere with the duties of any officer of local
or State institutions. Nor shall anything in this chapter be construed to
apply to the burial of dead bodies of paupers or inmates of State institu-
Hous wien buried at the expense of the State or of a political subdivision

ereof.

§ 54-260.3. All fees received under the provisions of this chapter
shall be paid into the State Treasury to be appropriated therefrom by the
General Assembly.

§ 54-260.4. Schools for teaching embalming under the direction of
the Board shall have extended to them the same privileges as to the use
of bodies for dissecting while teaching as those granted in this State to
medical colleges, but such bodies shall be obtained through the State
Health Commissioner.

§ 54-260.5. The Board may recognize to such extent as the Board
may deem to be in the public interest licenses issued to funeral directors
and embalmers by the state boards of health or similar authorities of
other states and of the District of Columbia having substantially the same
or equivalent standards and requirements for the issuance thereof as
provided in this chapter, but no holder of such license of another state
shall engage in the profession or business of funeral directing or the
practice of embalming in Virginia unless he be licensed by the Board as
provided in this chapter. The Board may enter into agreements with the
licensing authority of any state a part of whose boundary is contiguous
with any part of the boundary of this Commonwealth and with the
licensing authority of the District of Columbia for the granting of certain
privileges to persons resident in any such state or the District of Columbia
and duly licensed therein as funeral directors or embalmers and having
an established place of business therein, on condition that such state or
the District of Columbia grants similar privileges to residents of Virginia
duly licensed as funeral directors or embalmers by the Board and having
an established place of business in Virginia. Any such agreement may
provide that such nonresident funeral directors or embalmers may make
interments in, remove bodies from and arrange funerals or embalm bodies
in this Commonwealth and shall provide that such nonresident funeral
directors or embalmers shall not establish a place of business in, nor
engage generally in the business of funeral directing or embalming in,
nor be employed in any such business in, nor have solicitors or agents in,
nor advertise in this Commonwealth.

Article 2

Virginia Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers.

§ 54-260.6. The State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors
of Virginia, as heretofore established, is continued, but the name thereof,
from and after the effective date of this act shall be “Virginia Board of
Funeral Directors and Embalmers”.

§ 54-260.7. The Board shall consist of five members appointed by
the Governor for terms of five years from July first, one appointment to
be made annually on or before June thirtieth as the terms of the members
respectively expire, and all vacancies shall be filled by the Governor. No
person shall be eligible to succeed himself unless he is serving an unex-
pired term.

§ 54-260.8. Each member of the Board shall be a resident of Vir-
ginia, duly licensed in Virginia to engage in the profession or business
of funeral directing and of embalming and actively engaged therein, who
has had at least five years experience in Virginia as a funeral director and
embalmer.

§ 54-260.9. The Governor may remove any member of the Board
for misconduct, incapacity or neglect of duty and he shall be the sole
judge of the sufficiency of the cause for removal.

§ 54-260.10. The Governor shall furnish each person appointed to
serve on the Board a certificate of appointment. The appointee shall
qualify by taking the oath of office prescribed by § 49-1 before the clerk
of the circuit court of the county or corporation court of the city in which
such person may reside, within ten days after the appointment has been
made, and this fact shall be noted on the certificate of appointment and
shall be certified to the secretary of the Board.

§ 54-260.11. The Board shall hold at least two meetings in each
year at which examinations shall be given to qualified applicants for
licenses. In addition, the Board may meet as often as the proper and
efficient discharge of its duties shall require. Three members shall consti-
tute a quorum at any meeting.

§ 54-260.12. The officers of the Board shall be a president, a vice-
president and a secretary-treasurer. The Board shall elect two of its
members to be president and vice-president respectively, and shall elect
a member of the Board other than the president or vice-president or a
person not a member of the Board deemed qualified for the office to be
secretary-treasurer. The president and vice-president shall serve for one
year and until their successors shall be elected and qualify, but the
secretary-treasurer shall serve at the pleasure of the Board.

§ 54-260.13. Each member shall be reimbursed for his traveling
expenses and the necessary expense incident to his attendance upon the
business of the Board, and in addition thereto the sum of ten dollars per
diem for each day actually spent by such member upon the business of
the Board. The Secretary shall receive and be paid such annual salary
as may be fixed by the Board not to exceed thirty-six hundred dollars
per annum, the amount and method of payment of which shall be fixed by
the Board and in addition thereto the secretary shall receive his necessary
traveling and other expenses incurred in the performance of his neces-
sary duties and such specific allowance for office assistance and other
necessary expenses incident to the proper conduct of his office as the
Board shall approve. All such expenses, per diem, and compensation shall
be paid out of the receipts of the Board under the provisions of this
chapter and shall in no manner be an expense to the State.
CH. 220] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 231

_ § 54-260.14. The Board may employ an attorney, subject to the
written approval of the Attorney General, and such clerical and other
help or assistance as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this
chapter; and the terms of such employment shall be determined by the
Board, subject to the provisions of Chapter 9 of Title 2.

§ 54-260.15. The expenses of the Board shall at no time exceed
the receipts thereof.

§ 54-260.16. The Board shall have the power and authority—

(1) To determine according to law the qualification of all persons
making application to be examined for licenses as funeral directors and
embalmers. .

_ (2) To examine according to law qualified applicants for examina-
tion and determine whether they are possessed of the skill and knowledge
required by law to engage in the profession or business of funeral direct-
ing or in the practice of embalming according to the license or licenses
applied for.

(3) To grant licenses and renewals thereof according to law to all
persons who have complied with all provisions of law requisite for the
granting thereof.

(4) To refuse to grant any license and to suspend or revoke any
license granted for any reason permitted by law. .

(5) To establish, supervise, regulate, and control according to law
programs for the apprentice training of funeral directors and for the
apprentice training of embalmers.

_. (6) To regulate and inspect according to law funeral service estab-
lishments, their operation and the licenses under which they are oper-
ated, and to enforce as provided. by law the rules, regulations and require-
ments of the Department of Health of the State and of the city, town or
county wherein any such funeral service establishment is maintained
and operated.

(7) To approve schools of funeral directing and embalming, gradua-
tion from which may be required by law as a qualification for the grant-
ing of any license and to establish essential requirements and standards
for such approval and to conduct or aid in the conduct of schools of
funeral directing and embalming and scientific branches relating thereto
out of its own funds, but shall not thereby reduce its net funds after
payment of all other current obligations below the sum of one thousand

ollars.

(8) To hold hearings in accordance with the provisions of this chap-
ter and of Chapter 1.1 of Title 9, to subpoena witnesses and to administer
oaths to or receive the affirmation of witnesses before the Board.

(9) To perform such other acts and to exercise such other powers
and duties as may be provided elsewhere in this chapter or otherwise
by law or as may be necessary to carry out the powers herein conferred.

§ 54-260.17. The Board shall, from time to time, make and adopt
as provided in Chapter 1.1, Title 9 such rules, regulations and by-laws
for its governance and for the carrying out and enforcement of the pro-
visions of this chapter as may be necessary and as are consistent with
the laws of this State and of the United States. The powers and duties
of the Board shall be performed, the profession or business of funeral
directing and the practice of embalming shall be conducted, and funeral
service establishments shall be operated and maintained in accordance
with such rules, regulations and by-laws.

§ 54-260.18. The Board shall adopt a common seal.

§ 54-260.19. The president of the Board, or in his absence the vice-
president or a president pro tempore elected by the members present,
shall administer the oath to or receive the affirmation of all witnesses
testifying before the Board.
§ 54-260.20. Subpoenas for the appearance before the Board of any
person for any hearing which the Board is authorized to hold shall be
issued by the secretary at the direction of the president or, in his absence,
by the vice-president, under the seal of the Board and shall be directed
to any officer or person authorized by law to serve such process. Such
subpoenas shall require such person or persons to attend before the Board
or any member thereof designated at any hearing conducted pursuant to
this chapter er pursuant to Chapter 1.1 of Title 9. .

§ 54-260.21. The secretary-treasurer of the Board shall give bond
to the Commonwealth of Virginia with corporate surety in such sum as
the Board shall direct. The bond shall be conditioned for the faithful
discharge of the duties of such officer and, with the approval of the
Board endorsed thereon and certified by the president, shall be deposited
with the State Treasurer.

Article 3.

Funeral Directors, Examination, License. .

§ 54-260.22. Every person engaging in the profession or business
of funeral directing in Virginia shall obtain a license from the Board,
and no person shall engage or undertake to engage in such profession or
business or conduct or undertake to conduct any part of the profession
or business of funeral directing unless he shall be licensed by the Board,
provided, however, that persons employed by licensed funeral directors
as chauffeurs, janitors, porters, watchmen, receptionists, dressmakers,
beauticians, hairdressers, manicurists, clerks, beokkeepers, and in other
similar capacities who do not participate in the direction or supervision
of a funeral or direct or supervise the preparing of dead human bodies
for burial or the care and disposition of the dead shall not be required
to. be licensed as funeral directors, and provided, further, that apprentice
funeral directors, duly enrolled and actually engaged in a program for
apprentice training of funeral directors approved by the Board shall not
be required to be licensed to perform the acts permitted by such program.

§ 54-260.23. No person shall be licensed as a funeral director unless
he be a resident of this State, is at least twenty-one years of age, is of
good moral character, is a graduate of an accredited high school, or the
equivalent thereof, has completed two years of apprentice training and
has participated in the arrangement for and conduct of at least twenty-
five funerals during said training as provided in this chapter and passes
the required examination provided for in this chapter.

§ 54-260.24. Every person desiring to be examined for a funeral
director’s license shall make written application to the Board in which
shall be stated the name, race, residence and place of business, if any, of
the applicant, the names of his parents, the date and place of his birth,
whether he is a citizen of the United States, the name of the high school
from which he graduated and date of graduation, the names of all in-
stitutions of learning at which he has pursued general studies, any de-
grees, diplomas, certificates or other evidence of proficiency awarded to
him, the names of full funeral directors under whom and the funeral
service establishments in which he has served his apprenticeships, and
the address at which he desires to be notified of his qualification to be
examined. There shall be attached to the application the affidavits of
three citizens of Virginia that the applicant is personally known to them
and that he is of good moral character, a photograph of reasonable like-
ness of the applicant taken within six months of the date of the appli-
cation, the affidavits of the funeral directors under whom he has served
his apprenticeship stating the time during which and the places at which
such apprenticeship was served under each, and a certified transcript of
the applicant’s school record. The application shall also contain such
other information as may be required by the rules, regulations and by-
CH. 220] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 233

laws of the Board. The application when filed shall be accompanied by
the affidavit of the applicant that the statements contained in and the
representations made by the application and all papers thereto attached
are true and by a fee of twenty-five dollars which shall not in any event
be refunded. Whenever the Board shall determine that the applicant is
qualified to be examined the secretary shall so notify him at the address
given by him for such notice.

§ 54-260.25. The examination for funeral director’s license shall
be both theoretical and practical and shall embrace the subjects of bac-
teriology, care and disposition of the dead, disinfection and sanitation,
infectious and contagious diseases, mortuary law and administration and
such other subjects as the Board may from time to time deem appropriate
and necessary to establish a reasonable knowledge of the care and dis-
position of the dead and of the sanitation and disinfection of the bodies
of deceased persons, their clothing, bedding and living quarters, and
competence to engage in the profession or. business of funeral directing
and as the Board may set out in its rules, regulations and by-laws. The
examination shall be written or partly written and partly oral and by
practical demonstration, but the Board may at any examination or from
time to time dispense with either or both the oral or practical demon-
stration part of the examination.

Article 4.

Embalmers, Examination, License.

_ _§ 54-260.26. Every person engaging in the practice of embalming
in Virginia shall obtain a license from the Board and no person shall
engage or undertake to engage in such practice or embalm or undertake to
embalm or perform or undertake to perform any part of the embalming
proeess unless he shall be licensed by the Board, provided, however, that
apprentice embalmers, duly enrolled and actually engaged in a program
for apprentice training of embalmers approved by the Board shall not be
required to be licensed to perform the acts permitted by such program.

§ 54-260.27. No person shall be licensed as an embalmer unless he
be a resident of this State, is at least twenty-one years of age, is of good
moral character, is a graduate of an accredited high school, or the equiv-
alent thereof, has graduated from a school of embalming approved by the
Board, has completed two years of apprentice training and has actually
embalmed not less than twenty-five dead human bodies during said train-
ing as provided in this chapter, and has passed the required examination
provided for in this chapter.

§ 54-260.28. Every person desiring to be examined for an em-
balmer’s license shall make written application to the Board in which
shall be stated the name, race, residence and place of business, if any,
of the applicant, the names of his parents, the date and place of his
birth, whether he is a citizen of the United States, the name of the high
school from which he graduated and date of graduation, the names of
all institutions of learning at which he has pursued general studies, any
degrees, diplomas, certificates or other evidence of proficiency awarded
to him, the name of the embalming school from which he graduated and
date of graduation, the names of all embalmers under whom and the
funeral establishments in which he has served his apprenticeship, and the
address at which he desires to be notified of his qualification to be
examined. There shall be attached to the application the affidavits of three
citizens of Virginia that the applicant is personally known to them and
that he is of good moral character, a photograph of reasonable likeness
taken within six months of the date of application, the affidavits of the
embalmers under whom he has served his apprenticeship and embalmed
234 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY [vA., 1956

dead human bodies stating the time during which and the places at which
such apprenticeship was served and embalming was performed and a
certified transcript of the applicant’s general and professional school
record. The application shall also contain such other information as may
be required by the rules, regulations and by-laws of the Board. The appli-
cation when filed shall be accompanied by the affidavit of the applicant
that the statements contained in and the representations made by the
application and all papers thereto attached. are true and by a fee of
twenty-five dollars which shall not in any event be refunded. Whenever
the Board shall determine that the applicant is qualified to be examined
at secretary shall so notify him at the address given by him for such
notice.

§ 54-260.29. The examination for embalmer’s license shall be both
theoretical and practical and shall embrace the subjects of anatomy,
bacteriology, biology, care and disposition of the dead, chemistry, dis-
infection and sanitation, embalming, infectious and contagious diseases,
mortuary law, pathology, restorative art and such other subjects as the
Board may from time to time deem appropriate and necessary to estab-
lish a reasonable knowledge of the science of embalming, the care and
disposition of the dead and the sanitation and disinfection of the bodies
of deceased persons, their clothing, bedding and living quarters, and
competence to engage in the practice of embalming and as the Board
may set out in its rules, regulations and by-laws. The examination shall
be written or partly written and partly oral and by practical demonstra-
tion, but the Board may at any examination or from time to time dispense
with either or both the oral or practical part of the examination.

Article 5.
Licenses, Registration, Expiration and Renewal;
Forfeiture and Reinstatement.

§ 54-260.30. Every person qualified to apply for examination for
license as a funeral director who satisfactorily passes the examination
required therefor as provided in this chapter shall be entitled to receive
from the Board a certificate that he is duly licensed as a registered
funeral director in the Commonwealth of Virginia; and every person
qualified to apply for examination for license as an embalmer who satis-
factorily passes the examination required therefor as provided in this
chapter shall be entitled to receive from the Board a certificate that he
is duly licensed as a registered embalmer in the Commonwealth of Vir-
ginia. Such certificates shall be signed by the president of the Board and
the seal of the Board shall be affixed thereon and attested by its secretary.

§ 54-260.31. Every person receiving a certificate of license from
the Board shall register the same forthwith at the office of the board of
health of the county or city in which he practices his profession or con-
ducts his business, or if there be no board of health in such county or
city, at the office of the clerk of the court of such county or city having
jurisdiction for the recordation of deeds. Renewals of such license cer-
tificate shall be similarly registered. All such licenses, certificates and the
renewals thereof shall be displayed in a conspicuous place in the office
of the holder thereof.

_ § 54-260.32. Every license issued by the Board shall expire on the
thirty-first day of December in each year. Every holder of a license desir-
ing to continue the practice of the profession or business for which such
license was issued shall apply to the Board at least thirty days prior to
the expiration of such license for the renewal thereof. Such application
shall be made in the manner and form required by the rules, regulations
CH. 220] _ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 235

and by-laws of the Board and shall be accompanied by a renewal fee of
ten dollars.

§ 54-260.38. The holder of any license issued by the Board who
shall fail to make application for its renewal and pay the renewal fee
therefor on or before January fifteenth of the calendar year for which
such license is to be renewed shall be deemed to have forfeited and sur-
rendered such license as of such date and any such person who thereafter
performs any act for which such license is required shall be deemed to
be practicing without license the profession or business for which such
license was granted. No license so forfeited and surrendered shall be
reinstated by the Board except upon application therefor in writing
within five years following such forfeiture and upon payment of all
delinquent annual renewal fees plus a reinstatement fee of ten dollars,
provided, however, that the Board may waive the provisions of this
section for the holder of any license during the period of service of such
holder in any of the armed services of the United States when application
for reinstatement is made in writing within six months of severance
therefrom, and provided, further, that the Board may in its discretion
upon the written application of the holder of any license grant the tem-
porary suspension of such license for any period not exceeding five
years during which the holder thereof does not engage in the practice
of the profession or business thereby authorized and reinstate the same
without the penalties herein provided whenever such practice is resumed
within such period of five years.

Article 6.

Training of Apprentice Funeral Directors
and Embalmers.

§ 54-260.34. Any resident of Virginia, not less than eighteen years
of age, of good moral character, who is a graduate of an accredited high
school or the equivalent thereof, may apply to the Board for registration
as an apprentice funeral director or apprentice embalmer or both.

§ 54-260.35. Applications for registration as an apprentice funeral
director or apprentice embalmer shall be in writing and shall state the
applieant’s full name, race, residence, and place of business, if any, the
names of his parents, the date and place of his birth, the names and loca-
tions of all institutions of learning attended with dates of attendance at
each, all degrees, diplomas, certificates or other evidence of profieiency
awarded him, the name and place of business of the person to whom he
desires to be apprenticed, and a statement that the applicant is a citizen
of the United States. There shall be attached to the application the affi-
davits of three citizens of Virginia that the applicant is personally known
to them and that he is of good moral character, a certified transcript of
the applicant’s school record, a photograph of reasonable likeness of the
applicant taken within six months of the date of the application and the
written statement of the person to whom he desires to be apprenticed that
he agrees to accept the applicant as an apprentice under the training pro-
gram approved by the Board. The application shall also contain such
other information as may be required by the rules, regulations and by-laws
of the Board. The application, when filed, shall be accompanied by the
affidavit of the applicant that the statements contained in and the repre-
sentations made by the application and all papers thereto attached are
true and that he accepts and agrees to abide by the rules and regulations
of the Board governing such apprenticeship and by a fee of ten dollars.

§ 54-260.36. The Board shall determine the qualification of all appli-
cants for apprentice training. No person shall give or offer to give training
to apprentice funeral directors or embalmers unless he be approved by
236 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY [vA., 1956

the Board to give such training, and no person, firm or corporation owning
or operating any funeral service establishment shall permit such appren-
tice training to be given or conducted in such establishment unless it shall
have been approved by the Board for the giving of such training. No per-
son shall be approved by the Board to give apprentice training unless he
shall have been duly licensed by the Board to engage in the profession
or business for which he proposes to give apprentice training, is in good
standing, has registered with the Board in writing his acceptance of the
rules and regulations of the Board relating to such training and is con-
sidered by the Board a suitable and competent person to give apprentice
training for the profession or business for which he is licensed. No funeral
service establishment shall be approved by the Board unless such estab-
lishment is located in the State of Virginia and complies in all respects
with the provisions of this chapter relating thereto and is deemed by the
Board to be adequately equipped and suitable for the giving of such
training.

§ 54-260.37. Credit for apprentice training shall not be allowed to
any person while he is in military service or while enrolled at or in
attendance at an embalming school nor in any event unless the apprentice
shall serve the person under whom such training is given on a bona fide
full time basis constituting his primary occupation. Apprentice funeral
directors shall not participate in the arrangements for or conduct of any
funeral, or in the care and disposition of the dead except under the direct
supervision of the funeral director under whom the apprentice training
is served and in the presence of a funeral director licensed by the Board.
Apprentice funeral directors shall participate in the arrangement for and
conduct of at least twenty-five funerals as a part of and as a condition
of the completion of such apprentice training. Apprentice embalmers shall
not embalm dead human bodies except under the direct supervision of
the embalmer under whom the apprentice training is served and in the
presence of an embalmer licensed by the Board. Apprentice embalmers
shall embalm at least twenty-five dead human bodies during such appren-
ticeship as a part of and as a condition of the completion of such appren-
tice training. Every apprentice, every person under whom and every
funeral service establishment in which an apprenticeship is served shall
report to the Board not less often than every six months on the progress
of the apprenticeship giving such information as the Board shall require
and on the termination of the apprenticeship for any cause each shall
immediately report to the Board such termination and the progress of
the apprenticeship to the date of such termination. Failure of an appren-
tice to make any report required by this section shall forfeit all credit to
him for training since the last report made by him, and such failure of a
person or funeral service establishment shall forfeit such approval, pro-
vided, however, that the Board may waive any such forfeiture for any
reason deemed by it sufficient.

§ 54-260.38. The successful completion by any person of the appren-
tice training required for any license granted by the Board shall not
entitle him to any privilege except as a qualification to be examined for
such license as provided in this chapter. No credit as a qualification for
such examination shall be allowed for such two-year period of apprentice
training that shall have been completed more than three years next pre-
ceding the application for such license nor more than five years next
preceding any examination for such license, provided, however, that the
Board may waive the limitations of time prescribed in this section for
any person during the period of his service in any of the armed services
of the United States where application for such waiver is made in writing
within six months of severance therefrom, and in any case in which the
Board by the unanimous vote of all its members shall determine in its
Grcretion that the enforcement thereof will create an unreasonable hard-

Article 7.
Funeral Service Establishments.

§ 54-260.39. No person, firm or corporation shall conduct any funeral
service establishment in Virginia except in compliance with the provisions
of this chapter and of the rules and regulations of the Board adopted
pursuant thereto and every such funeral service establishment shall be
subject to inspection by the Board.

§ 54-260.40. Every funeral service establishment and also every
branch thereof in Virginia, regardless of how owned, whether by a person,
firm or corporation, shall at all times be under the direct supervision and
management of a separate funeral director licensed by the Board for each
such funeral service establishment or branch thereof. No person, no
member of any firm, and no officer or employee of any corporation owning
or operating any funeral service establishment in Virginia or any branch
thereof shall engage in funeral directing or discharge any of the duties
or functions of a funeral director or manage or conduct a funeral service
establishment in Virginia unless he be a funeral director licensed by the
Board, provided, however, that apprentice funeral directors duly enrolled
and actually engaged in a program for apprentice training of funeral
directors approved by the Board may without such license perform the
acts permitted by such program. .

§ 54-260.41. No funeral service establishment operated or main-
tained in Virginia shall permit any of the functions connected with the
embalming of dead human bodies to be performed on its premises unless
it shall have at least one room of adequate size and properly ventilated
according to Department of Health requirements set aside and used exclu-
sively for embalming. The walls of such room shall extend from floor to
ceiling and the floor of such room shall be of a material or covered by a
material impervious to water and shall extend from wall to wall with all
joints tight and sanitary. Such room shall at all times be equipped with
running hot and cold water, a flush or slop sink connected with public
sewer or with a septic tank where no public sewer is available, metal or
porcelain morgue table, covered waste container, emergency first aid kit,
instruments and apparatus necessary to the embalming process, a means
or method approved by the Board for the sterilization of instruments,
necessary disinfectants and antiseptics, clean gowns or aprons and rubber
gloves for each embalmer or apprentice making use of it and such other
equipment as the Board in its rules and regulations may reasonably
require. Every hydro-aspirator used therein shall be equipped with a
vacuum breaker of type and design approved by the Board. The embalm-
ing room shall be kept in a clean, sanitary condition at all times, subject
to inspection and no other room in such establishment shall be used for
embalming.

Article 8.

Register of Licensees, Apprentices and Funeral
Service Establishments.

§ 54-260.42. The Board shall maintain a permanent alphabetical
register of all persons licensed by the Board, separately as to funeral
directors and embalmers and as to whether such licenses are currently
in force or are forfeited, supended, revoked or otherwise in force, which
shall show the date of first issue of such license and the date of such for-
feiture, suspension or revocation.
_§ 54-260.48. The Board shall maintain a permanent alphabetieal
register of all apprentices approved by the Board for apprentice training,
separately as to apprentice funeral directors and apprentice embalmers
and as to those currently in active training and those not currently in
active training. Such register shall show the name and address of the
persons under whom he has trained and is training and the date of receipt
of all reports required by this chapter. .

_§ 54-260.44. The Board shall maintain a permanent alphabetical
register of all funeral service establishments in Virginia, separately as
to those currently in business and those not in business, which shall show
the names and addresses of the owner or owners, of the partners of any
firm and the officers of any corporation, operating the same, and of all
licenses of the Board connected therewith. The register shall show what
funeral service establishments are approved for apprentice training
whether for apprentice funeral directors or for apprentice embalmers.

§ 54-260.45. Every person licensed by the Board, and every appren-
tice funeral director and apprentice embalmer shall furnish all informa-
tion required by the Board reasonably relevant to the practice of the pro-
fession or business for which he is licensed or apprenticed and every
funeral service establishment shall be subject to inspection by the Board
at all reasonable times and shall furnish all information required by the
Board reasonably relevant to the business therein conducted. Every
licensee, apprentice and funeral service establishment shall provide the
secretary of the Board with his or its current post office address, which
shall be placed on the appropriate register and all notices required by law
or by any rule or regulation of the Board to be mailed to any licensee,
apprentice or funeral service establishment shall be validly given when
mailed to the address so provided.

Article 9.
Inspectors of the Board.

§ 54-260.46. The Board may appoint agents whose designation shall
be “Inspector of Virginia Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers.”

§ 54-260.47. Inspectors shall have the authority and duty to enter
at any reasonable time the office, premises, establishment or place of
business of any funeral director or embalmer in Virginia, or any office,
premises, establishment or place of business where funeral directing or
embalming or any part thereof is carried on, for the purpose of inspecting
such office, premises, establishment and place of business in which, the
equipment and procedures by which, and the licenses and registration
under which funeral directing and embalming is carried on, and any
apprentice training program approved by the Board. Inspectors are
further authorized to serve and execute any papers or process issued by
the Board or by any officer or member thereof pursuant to the provisions
of this chapter and also to perform any other duty or duties prescribed
or ordered by the Board.

§ 54-260.48. All inspectors appointed by the Board shall serve at
the pleasure of the Board for such length of time as it may direct. They
shall receive such compensation for services rendered as the Board may
determine, which shall be payable only out of the receipts of the Board.

54-260.49. Any person deemed competent by the Board may be
appointed inspector, including members of the Board.

Article 10.

Refusal, Suspension and Revocation of Licenses.

§ 54-260.50. The Board may refuse to grant and may suspend or
revoke any license granted, to any person for any of the following reasons:
CH. 220] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 239

(a) If the applicant therefor or holder thereof obtained the license
by fraud or misrepresentation, either in the application for license or in
passing the examination therefor. .

(b) If the applicant therefor or holder thereof has been convicted
of a felony or crime involving moral turpitude. . .

_(c) If the applicant therefor or holder thereof wilfully violates any
section of this chapter or any rule or regulation of the State, districts, or
local board of health governing the disposition of dead human bodies.

_ (d) If the applicant therefor or holder thereof wilfully violates any
valid rule or regulation of the Board. .

(e) If the holder engages in any illegal advertising or in the unlaw-
ful solicitation of employment. :

§ 54-260.51. No complaint against the holder of any license, against
any apprentice or against any funeral service establishment shall be
received by the Board unless the same shall be in writing clearly stating
the charge made and signed by the person making the complaint. ;

§ 54-260.52. No action to suspend, revoke or cancel any license,
except forfeiture for failure to pay the fee for renewal as provided in
this chapter, shall be taken by the Board until the accused has been
furnished with a statement of the charges against him and given notice
of the time and place of hearing thereof, both at least thirty days prior
to the date of such hearing. The hearing shall be conducted in conformity
with the provisions of §§ 9-6.10, 9-6.11 and 9-6.12.

§ 54-260.538. Any person who has been refused a license for any
cause other than failure to pass an examination shall be entitled to a
hearing thereon before the Board, which shall be conducted in conformity
with the provisions of §§ 9-6.10, 9-6.11 and 9-6.12.

§ 54-260.54. Any person who has been refused a license for any
cause other than failure to pass an examination, or whose license has been
suspended or revoked, shall have the right of appeal from the final action
of the Board after hearing, refusing to grant or suspending or revoking
such license as provided in § 9-6.18.

Article 11.
Offenses and Penalties.

§ 54-260.55. It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the
profession or business of funeral directing or embalming, to act as a
funeral director or embalmer or to hold himself out as such unless he is
duly licensed by the Board.

§ 54-260.56. No person shall present to the Board any written state-
ment signed by himself or by any other person, which is misleading or
untrue in any application for license or for the purpose of obtaining any
other privilege that may be granted by the Board.

§ 54-260.57. No person, except a licensed funeral director or licensed
embalmer, shall advertise on any billhead, sign or card, or orally, or in any
other manner, that he is competent, willing or desirous to arrange for
or conduct funerals or to embalm.

§ 54-260.58. No funeral director or any member of his firm or any
employee or agent thereof or of any corporation and no embalmer shall
directly or indirectly offer or give any money or other valuable considera-
tion to any burial association, whether incorporated or not, or to any
other person for soliciting, suggesting, advising, requesting or inducing
any person to employ him or such firm or the agent or employee of any
corporation as a funeral director or embalmer. No burial association,
whether incorporated or not, and no other person corporate or natural
shall receive, directly or indirectly, any money or other valuable considera-
tion for soliciting, suggesting, advising, requesting or inducing any person
240 ' ACTS OF ASSEMBLY [va., 1956

to engage, employ or arrange with any funeral director or embalmer for
the funeral of any person or for the embalming or burial or cremation
of any dead body.

§ 54-260.59. It shall be unlawful to embalm a dead human body,
when any fact within the knowledge of, or obvious to, or brought to the
attention of, the embalmer is sufficient to arouse suspicion of crime in
connection with the cause of death of the deceased, until the permission
of the medical examiner has been first obtained. In any case where it is
the duty of the medical examiner to view the body and investigate the
death of a deceased person, it shall be unlawful to embalm the body until
the permission of the medical examiner has first been obtained.

§ 54-260.60. It shall be unlawful to cremate the body of a deceased
person until a medical examiner shall have certified in writing that he

as viewed the body and made personal inquiry into the cause and manner
of death and is of the opinion that no further examination or judicial
inquiry concerning the same is necessary. The fee required by law shall
be paid the medical examiner for such certificate by the person making
application therefor, and a copy of such certificate shall be promptly filed
by the medical examiner in the office of the Chief Medical Examiner at
Richmond.

§ 54-260.61. Any person violating any of the provisions of any
section of this article of this chapter or violating any provision of Chapter
2 of Title 19 applicable to funeral directors or embalmers shall be deemed
guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not
less than twenty-five dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by
confinement in jail not less than thirty days nor more than twelve months,
either or both, for each offense.

Article 12.
Assistant Funeral Directors Abolished.

§ 54-260.62. On and after the effective date of this act the Board
shall not license any person as an assistant funeral director and all
assistant funeral directors’ licenses heretofore issued by the Board shall
become void and of no effect three months after the effective date of this
act and thereafter no person shall be entitled to exercise by virtue of such
license any of the privileges theretofore granted by such assistant funeral
director’s license. °

§ 54-260.68. Every person who shall on the effective date of this act
hold an assistant funeral director’s license theretofore issued by the Board
and who shall within three months thereafter make application therefor
to the Board in writing and pay a fee of twenty-five dollars, shall receive
<- —— director’s license without any examination provided in this
chapter.

Article 18.
Severability.

§ 54-260.64. If any provision, article, section, subsection, paragraph,
word, clause or phrase of this act is for any reason found to be invalid
or inoperative, or shall be held by any court to be unconstitutional, the
remainder hereof shall nevertheless continue in full force and effect.