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AB-1911 Funeral establishments.(2007-2008)

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Assembly Bill No. 1911
CHAPTER 490

An act to add Sections 7636 and 9615 to the Business and Professions Code, and to amend Section 8585 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau.

[ Approved by Governor  September 28, 2008. Filed with Secretary of State  September 28, 2008. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1911, Galgiani. Funeral establishments.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of funeral directors, embalmers, cemeteries, cemetery managers, cemetery brokers, crematories, and crematory managers by the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. A violation of the provisions governing funeral directors and embalmers is a misdemeanor.
This bill would require a person who holds or has held, or was named on, any license or registration under the jurisdiction of the bureau that has been, within the past 10 years, revoked, suspended, placed on probation, or surrendered under a stipulated decision, and who is employed by, or who seeks employment with, a licensed funeral establishment, licensed cemetery, licensed crematory, or licensed cemetery broker, to inform the managing funeral director, cemetery manager, crematory manager, or the licensed cemetery broker, as specified. The bill would require the managing funeral director, cemetery manager, crematory manager, or the licensed cemetery broker to notify the bureau, after being so informed, on a form to be made available by the bureau. Failure to comply with these requirements by an employee or person seeking employment would be grounds for disciplinary action, as specified, or denial of a license, and grounds for a warning as applied to an employer or prospective employer who fails to inform the bureau.
Existing law requires a cemetery authority to, among other things, notify the bureau whenever ownership of the authority is proposed to be transferred, and requires a cemetery authority to publish notice of change of ownership, as specified, and to post and maintain signs at each public entrance containing certain information. Existing law requires the bureau to suspend the certificate of authority of any cemetery authority that is in violation of the sign or public notice requirements.
This bill would instead require the bureau to suspend the certificate of authority of a cemetery authority that violates any of the above requirements, and would subject a person or entity that submits false information on that change of ownership to a specified civil penalty. The bill would also prohibit a person from obtaining a certificate of authority under false or misleading statements or from delegating authority of ownership to an unlicensed person.
Because this bill would create new requirements under the Funeral Directors and Embalmers Law, the violation of which would be a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 7636 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

7636.
 (a) (1) Any person who holds or has held, or was named on, any license or registration under the jurisdiction of the bureau that has been, within the immediately preceding 10 years, revoked, suspended, placed on probation, or surrendered under a stipulated decision, and who is employed by, or who seeks employment with, a licensed funeral establishment in any capacity, shall inform the managing funeral director of that revocation, suspension, probation, or surrender.
(2) A person subject to this subdivision shall inform the managing funeral director upon application for employment by completing a form that shall be made available by the bureau.
(b) A managing funeral director who is informed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall notify the bureau by submitting the form within 30 days of so being informed. Failure of the managing funeral director to notify the bureau shall be a cause for a warning. A managing funeral director shall not be subject to a warning if his or her failure to notify the bureau is due to a false statement made by an employee.
(c) Any person required to notify the managing funeral director under subdivision (a) who fails to do so or who makes a false statement on the required form shall be subject to disciplinary action if that person is a licensee of the bureau, or that failure or false statement shall be cause for denial of a license under Section 480.
(d) For purposes of subdivision (a), the term “named on” applies to a person who was an owner, partner, or corporate officer of an entity that was licensed or registered under the act at the time that entity’s license or registration under the act was revoked, suspended, placed on probation, or surrendered.

SEC. 2.

 Section 9615 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

9615.
 (a) (1) Any person who holds or has held, or was named on, any license or registration under the jurisdiction of the bureau that has been, within the immediately preceding 10 years, revoked, suspended, placed on probation, or surrendered under a stipulated decision, and who is employed by, or who seeks employment with, a licensed cemetery, a licensed crematory, or a licensed cemetery broker in any capacity, shall inform the licensed cemetery manager, the licensed crematory manager, or the licensed cemetery broker of that revocation, suspension, probation, or surrender.
(2) A person subject to this subdivision shall inform the licensed cemetery manager, the licensed crematory manager, or the licensed cemetery broker upon application for employment by completing a form that shall be made available by the bureau.
(b) The cemetery manager, crematory manager, or cemetery broker who is informed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall notify the bureau by submitting the form within 30 days of being so informed. Failure of the cemetery manager, crematory manager, or cemetery broker to notify the bureau shall be a cause for a warning. A cemetery manager, crematory manager, or cemetery broker shall not be subject to a warning if his or her failure to notify the bureau is due to a false statement made by an employee.
(c) Any person required to notify the cemetery manager, crematory manager, or cemetery broker under subdivision (a) who fails to do so or who makes a false statement on the required form shall be subject to disciplinary action if that person is a licensee of the bureau, or that failure or false statement shall be cause for denial of a license under Section 480.
(d) For purposes of subdivision (a), the term “named on” applies to a person who was an owner, partner, or corporate officer of an entity that was licensed or registered under the act at the time that entity’s license or registration under the act was revoked, suspended, placed on probation, or surrendered.

SEC. 3.

 Section 8585 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

8585.
 (a) Whenever ownership of any cemetery authority is proposed to be transferred, the cemetery authority shall notify the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau in the Department of Consumer Affairs. A change in ownership, for purposes of this section, shall be deemed to occur whenever more than 50 percent of the equitable ownership of a cemetery authority is transferred in a single transaction or in a related series of transactions to one or more persons, associations, or corporations. The notice shall specify the address of the principal offices of the cemetery authority, and whether it will be changed or unchanged, and shall specify the name and address of each new owner and the stockholders. A person or entity that knowingly provides false information shall be subject to a civil penalty for each violation in the minimum amount of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) and the maximum amount of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). An action for a civil penalty under this provision may be brought by any public prosecutor in the name of the people of the State of California and the penalty imposed shall be enforceable as a civil judgment.
(b) Notice of the change of ownership shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the cemetery is located. The notice shall specify the address of the principal offices of the cemetery authority, whether changed or unchanged, and shall specify the name and address of each new owner and each stockholder owning more than 5 percent of the stock of each new owner.
(c) If there is a change of ownership pursuant to this section, the existing certificate of authority shall lapse and a new certificate of authority shall be obtained from the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. No person shall purchase a cemetery, including purchase at a sale for delinquent taxes, or purchase more than 50 percent of the equitable ownership of a cemetery authority without having obtained a certificate of authority from the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau prior to the purchase of the cemetery or the ownership interest in the cemetery authority.
(d) Every cemetery authority shall post and continuously maintain at each public entrance to the cemetery a sign specifying the current name and address of the cemetery authority, a statement that the name and address of each director and officer of the cemetery authority may be obtained by contacting the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, and shall have either of the following:
(1) The address of the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau.
(2) A statement that the address of the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau is available at the office of the cemetery.
(e) The signs shall be at least 16 inches high and 24 inches wide and shall be prominently mounted upright and vertical.
(f) The Cemetery and Funeral Bureau shall suspend the certificate of authority of any cemetery authority that is in violation of this section. No person shall obtain a certificate of authority under intentionally false or misleading statements and no person shall delegate authority of ownership under this section, except to another person licensed by the bureau. The certificate may be reinstated only upon compliance with these requirements.

SEC. 4.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.