S857 - General Statutes Commission Update Funeral Board and Department of Insurance Licensing. (SL 2026-48)

• Clarifies that a funeral service licensee is licensed to practice both funeral directing and embalming.
• Defines a "principal funeral establishment" as the operation of an ancillary branch funeral establishment, embalming facility, or chapel.
• Adds definitions.
• Lists application requirements for applicants for the practice of funeral service.
• Allows the Board to recognize examinations not prepared by the Board, and the Board may contract with a third party to administer examinations.
• Requires the Board to register applicants who meet qualifications for licensure and requires licensees who supervise resident trainees to register with the Board.
• Adds that a resident trainee can place their traineeship on inactive status.
• Requires an initial funeral establishment permit application to be submitted by the intended manager of the establishment.
• Requires a funeral establishment to register the name under which it operates with the Board. If the name includes the name of an individual, that individual must have been a licensee and owner or manager of the establishment when the establishment was issued its initial permit.
• Requires certain funeral establishments to contain a preparation room and applies a refrigeration requirement to unembalmed human remains.
• Requires individuals to treat human remains with respect, forbids photography or video recording of human remains without the consent of the decedent's family, and requires licensees to handle human remains consistently with State law.
• Enacts a new statute that discusses the business permit for transportation and removal of human remains. The statute includes requirements related to notification of the Board, display of permits, and professional liability insurance requirements.
• Enacts a new statute that discusses the issuance and display of licenses, permits, and certificates.
• Rewrites a statute that creates criminal penalties for practicing without authorization (Class 2 misdemeanor), abusing human remains (Class 2 misdemeanor), and the sale of embalming fluid by licensees outside of the scope of their activities as a licensee to certain individuals (Class I felony, imprisonment, and a fine between $100 and $500).
• In relation to Preneed Funeral Funds:
  • Requires a preneed licensee who purchases a prearrangement insurance policy to notify the Board of the name and address of the insurance company.
  • Requires the Board to order a contract to be transferred to a substitute preneed licensee if a preneed licensee is unable or unwilling to perform a preneed funeral contract.
  • Clarifies the duties of a substitute preneed licensee.
• Requires the Board to revoke a burial association's license and order its dissolution if it violates Article 13E of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes.
• Requires an order of liquidation of a burial association by the Board to direct the termination of all agreements for members' benefits and the liquidation of all records, property, and funds of the association. The association is required to file a final report with the Board no later than 30 days after the liquidation is completed.
• In relation to Article 13F ("Cremations and Alkaline Hydrolysis") of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes:
  • Incorporates the concept of alkaline hydrolysis.
  • Discusses the requirements for a cremation license and hydrolysis license.
  • Requires the reduction of human remains to only occur in a reduction facility.
  • Discusses the qualifications of a reduction facility manager.
  • Discusses required information on a reduction authorization form.
  • Discusses preneed reduction arrangements, including separate disclosures for cremation and alkaline hydrolysis.
  • Discusses record keeping, reduction containers, reduction procedures, the final disposition of reduced human remains, limitation of liability, fees, and reduction licensee rights.
  • Discusses rulemaking and cremation societies.

Part II makes related conforming changes throughout the General Statutes.

Parts I and II become effective October 1, 2026.