KANSAS STATE BOARD OF MORTUARY ARTS

700 SW JACKSON, SUITE #904

TOPEKA, KANSAS 66603-3733

Wednesday-Thursday, April 7-8, 2010

FORMAT OF MINUTES:

On each motion there appear the names of two board members in a parenthesis. The first named made the motion, and the second named made the second.
Ayes and Nays will be recorded at a voter’s request.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010:

I.        The Investigative Committee (IC) of the board met to discuss and make recommendations on open complaints. Those in attendance included: William H. “Bill” Young,
Lake Quivira, Licensee, the Board’s Litigation/Prosecuting Assistant Attorney General Steve Phillips, and Executive Secretary Mack Smith were in attendance.
Board Member Charles R. Smith, Overland Park, Consumer, was unable to attend this meeting. IC recommendations are included with the minutes of the board.

Thursday, April 8, 2010:

II.       The regularly scheduled meeting of the Kansas State Board of Mortuary Arts (KSBMA) was called to order by President Fred G. Holroyd.

Roll call by Executive Secretary Mack Smith with the following board members in attendance: President Fred G. Holroyd, Topeka, Licensee; Vice President
William H. “Bill” Young, Lake Quivira, Licensee; Board Member Barry W. Bedene, Arma, Licensee; and newly appointed Consumer Board Member Diane Minear
of Tonganoxie, Kansas. The board’s Executive Secretary, Mack Smith and Assistant Attorney General Camille Nohe were in attendance. Consumer Board Member
Charles R. Smith, Overland Park, was unable to attend the meeting.

The Board welcomed Consumer Board Member Diane Minear of Tonganoxie, Kansas. Ms. Minear was appointed by Governor Mark Parkinson and is replacing
Consumer Board Member Melissa A. Wangemann of Topeka, Kansas. Ms. Minear was administered the Oath of Office by President Holroyd.

The board noted this meeting’s tentative agenda that is displayed on the agency’s website at: http://www.kansas.gov/ksbma/ under the heading of Agency Information
and Tentative Board Agenda.

(Young-Bedene) To approve a final agenda for this meeting. Carried.

The board decided to eat lunch following conclusion of the meeting at the restaurant downstairs in the Jayhawk Tower.

(Bedene-Young) To adopt the January 14, 2010 regularly scheduled board meeting minutes as amended. Carried. These minutes will be signed by
President Holroyd and Executive Secretary Smith then displayed on the board’s website.

The board reviewed results of the written funeral directors’ examination administered on January 14, 2010 noting that 54.5% (six of eleven applicants)
were successful. Exit comments from examinees and response by Executive Secretary Smith were reviewed and discussed by the Board.

The board reviewed results of the written assistant funeral directors’ examination administered in February, March and April of 2010 noting that 88% (8 of 9)
of applicants were successful. Since the law was enacted on February 8, 2008, 42 out of 50 applicants (84%) have successfully passed this examination.

The board reviewed the ‘List of Licensure Applicants’ scheduled to interview with the board at this meeting, noting the following applicants scheduled to meet with
the board: three (3) embalmer-funeral director applicants, one (1) funeral director applicant, one (1) embalmer applicant and one (1) reciprocal (Illinois) embalmer-funeral director applicant. All five (5) applicants that failed the January funeral director examination have applied to retake today’s funeral directors’ examination–making a total
of ten (10) applicants scheduled to be administered the written funeral directors' examination in conjunction with this meeting.

III.      The board reviewed individual applications for embalmer and funeral director licensure along with the executive secretary’s summations of the applicant’s apprentice
and supervising licensee progress reports. Applicants for licensure will be interviewed later in this meeting. Funeral director applicants will be administered the written
 funeral directors' examination by Funeral Home/ Crematory Inspector Francis Mills at 1:30 p.m. this afternoon in the Florentine Room of the Jayhawk Tower.

The board reviewed two (2) apprentice-licensee progress reports of specific interest:

          •         The third quarter reports of an apprentice embalmer-funeral director. After reviewing the reports, no action was taken.

          •         The fourth (4^th) quarter progress reports of an apprentice embalmer-funeral director. This apprentice still has apprenticeship time left to serve and will be starting
a new position shortly. The apprentice will meet with the board in July instead of this meeting due to health concerns. After reviewing the reports, no action
was taken.

All remaining quarterly progress reports of embalmer/funeral director apprentices and supervising licensees were summarized by the executive secretary with copies
of the individual reports available for board review.

The board reviewed letters and correspondence resulting from action taken at the January 14, 2010 meeting, including letters involving two (2) supervising licensees
and/or apprentices.

lV.      Legal Discussion: Individual Complaints/investigations are listed numerically. The board did not necessarily take action in the order listed below:

Complaints and legal concerns:

The board reviewed correspondence involving complaints resulting from action taken at the meeting of January 14, 2010.

Information on open complaints:

          The Board’s Investigative Committee, which is composed of Board Members

Young and C. Smith with legal assistance provided by Assistant Attorney General (litigation) Steve Phillips and administrative assistance by Executive Secretary Smith,
met Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. to discuss and make recommendations on open complaints. Member Charles Smith was unable to attend the meeting. Investigative Committee recommendations are included with the following individual complaints.

#09-10–No action necessary at this time. The file will remain open until a related criminal case has been finalized to ensure no involvement by a licensed funeral director
that would warrant any board action.

#09-37–Following review of correspondence: (Bedene-Young) To close the file. Carried. Both parties were notified of no violations. The complaint involved unprofessional conduct in a number of areas.

#09-43–Following review of correspondence: (Bedene-Young) To close the file. Carried. No violations were noted but the licensees were notified that better attention to
detail should be taken when submitting their Roster of Prefinanced Funeral Agreements to the KSBMA. The complaint involved unprofessional conduct relating to a prefinanced funeral agreement funded with an insurance product.

 #09-46–Following review of correspondence: (Bedene-Young) To close the file. Carried. Parties were notified of no violations. The complaint involved the value of a prefinanced funeral agreement at-need.

#09-47–Following review of correspondence: (Bedene-Young) To close the file. Carried. While there were no violations, the funeral home was notified to pay better attention
to detail and do a better job of communicating in order to avoid any similar situations from occurring in the future. The complaint involved unprofessional conduct in failure
to file a death certificate in a timely manner.

#09-49–Following review of correspondence: (Bedene-Young) To close the file. Carried. The licensee was notified to pay better attention to detail in future endeavors and
to switch the effective date on all price lists that were changed at the request of the Board. The complaint involved the price list of a funeral home and the charge for certain embalmings.

#09-50–(Young-Bedene) To adopt the recommendations of the Investigative Committee to publicly censure the license’s funeral director license with censure to be placed
on the KSBMA web site. Carried. The complaint involves failure of the licensee to provide the legal next of kin a signed written price statement as required by KAR 63-3-17(c). The consumer will be notified of the board’s decision once it has been finalized.

#09-51–Following review of correspondence: (Bedene-Young) To close the file. Carried. Both parties were notified of no violations. The complaint involved unprofessional conduct.

#09-52–Following review of correspondence: (Bedene-Young) To close the file. Carried. The licensee was notified that any future similar actions will result in disciplinary
action taken by the board. The complaint involved fraudulent, deceptive and misleading advertising.

#09-53–Following review of correspondence: (Bedene-Young) To close the file. Carried. Based on information provided during the course of the investigation there were
no violations. The complaint involved unlicensed activity and concerns involving an apprenticeship.

#09-54–Following review of correspondence: (Bedene-Young) To close the file. Carried. The funeral home was notified to adjust all future advertising and use appropriate wording so as not to be fraudulent, deceptive or misleading in nature. The complaint involved fraudulent, deceptive and misleading advertising.

#10-01–Following review of correspondence: (Bedene-Young) To close the file. Carried. The newspaper provided a letter taking full responsibility for the use of an unlicensed facility name. The complaint involved wording of an unlicensed facility in newspaper obituaries.

#10-02–Following review of correspondence: (Bedene-Young) To close the file. Carried. The newspaper provided a letter taking full responsibility for the use of an unlicensed facility name. The complaint involved wording of an unlicensed facility in newspaper obituaries.

#10-03–Following review of correspondence: (Bedene-Young) To close the file. Carried. The licensee was notified that any similar actions in the future will result in disciplinary action taken by the board. The complaint involved fraudulent, deceptive and misleading advertising.

#10-04–(Young-Bedene) To adopt the recommendations of the Investigative Committee to notify the licensee to pay closer attention to his advertisements to avoid any similar instances in the future. Carried. The complaint involves fraudulent, deceptive and misleading advertising.

#10-05–(Young-Bedene) To adopt the recommendations of the Investigative Committee to notify the licensee to pay closer attention to detail in order to avoid any future clerical errors from occurring. Carried. The complaint involves the funeral home putting wrong information on a tag identifying cremated remains due to a clerical error.

#10-06–No action necessary at this time.

#10-07–(Young-Bedene) To adopt the recommendations of the Investigative Committee to advise the licensee to ensure compliance with the provision in the Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Rule requiring disclosure of cash advance items in which the price being charged by the funeral home is not the same as the cost to the funeral home. Carried. The individual filing the complaint will be advised that any pay discrepancies should be brought to the Kansas Department of Labor. Carried. The complaint involves the funeral home’s General Price List and charges to families of Cash Advance Items and hours worked/services provided by a former employee of the funeral home.

#10-08–(Young-Bedene) To adopt the recommendations of the Investigative Committee of no violations and to notify all parties accordingly. Carried. The complaint involves unprofessional conduct.

#10-09–(Young-Bedene) To adopt the recommendations of the Investigative Committee of no violations and close the file. Carried. The complaint involves unlicensed activity and fraudulent, deceptive and misleading advertising.

#10-10–No action necessary at this time.

#10-11–(Young-Bedene) To adopt the recommendations of the Investigative Committee to close the file. Carried. The complaint involves prefinanced funeral agreements and is being investigated by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office’s Consumer Protection Division due to the accused not being licensed with the KSBMA.

#10-12–(Young-Bedene) To adopt the recommendations of the Investigative Committee to notify both parties of no violations. Carried. The complaint involves unprofessional conduct.

#10-13–(Young-Bedene) To adopt the recommendations of the Investigative Committee to notify both parties of no violations. Carried. The complaint involves the value of a prefinanced funeral agreement at-need.

#10-14–(Young-Bedene) To adopt the recommendations of the Investigative Committee to notify both parties of no violations. Carried. The complaint involves the possibility of unlicensed activity of a yet-to-be licensed funeral establishment.

#10-15–(Young-Bedene) To adopt the recommendations of the Investigative Committee of no violations but to notify the funeral director that better communication may have avoided the situation from occurring. Carried. The complaint involves unprofessional conduct relating to at-need funeral arrangements.

#10-16–No action necessary at this time.

The board discussed information regarding National Prearranged Services (NPS) and Lincoln Memorial Life Insurance Company. It was noted that funeral homes were receiving payment within six (6) weeks of applying–which is quite a bit faster than in the past.

V.       Legislative Discussion

The board discussed the current legislative session and bills affecting funeral service, including:

House Substitute for SB 75–Language from HB 2713 providing for certain enforcement actions by the Secretary of State relating to cemetery corporations has been presented to the Governor for signature.

SB 391–Amendments to the Anatomical Gift Act.

Substitute for SB 475–Amends the definition of a funeral director, funeral services. The bill was requested by the Kansas Funeral Directors Association and would allow for individuals engaged with cremation for five (5) consecutive years to be exempt from serving a funeral directing apprenticeship and would allow them to be administered the funeral directors examination for up to 120 days from passage of this act. Signed by Governor Parkinson and becomes law on July 1, 2010.

SB 506, now Substitute for 2310–Would license individual crematory operators. The bill is in a conference committee.

HB 2442–Streamlining Kansas government. Amended to not include fee funded agencies.

HB 2588–Will increase the maximum amount of irrevocably funded prefinanced funeral agreements from $5,000 to $7,000. Requested by the KFDA. Signed by Governor Parkinson and will become law effective July 1, 2010.

HB 2589–Will require certain disclosures with prefinanced funeral agreements. Requested by the KFDA. Signed by Governor Parkinson and becomes law January 1, 2011.

HB 2679–Involves abandoned cemeteries.

HB 2706–The House’s version of the Mega Appropriations Bill.

HB 2712–Involves cemetery merchandise contracts and permanent maintenance funds.

SRS Funeral Assistance–$520,000 at $545 maximum per case is still being debated with nothing finalized at this time. Funds appear to be in the House budget but not in the Senate side. The amount budget for FY 2010 was $810,000 which allowed for $645 maximum per case.

Assistant Attorney General Camille Nohe exited the meeting.

VI.     Board Business:

             1)     (Bedene-Young) To approve the quarterly lists of continuing education (CE.) Carried. One list contains correspondence/home study programs. Both of these lists of approved continuing education programs are regularly updated and are available on the board’s web site on the internet and are mailed to licensees not having internet access on a quarterly basis.

             2)     (Young-Bedene) To approve the list of lapsed licenses as amended. Carried. The list is a part of these minutes and contains the names of individuals whose license renewals are past due for longer than six months, who have requested that their licenses be dropped, or who have died. Eight (8) assistant funeral director licenses, seven (7) funeral director licenses and six (6) embalmer licenses are on the list due to a number of reasons, including: no longer employed, personal request, nonpayment of renewal fees and death. Information is provided for a number of reasons, including use by the Office of Vital Statistics (OVS) for purposes of licensure verification as used on death certificates.

             3)     The board reviewed the list of automatically suspended licenses. This list contains the names of individuals who have not paid their license renewal fees by the appropriate due date and have not requested that their licenses be dropped. Once a license is six months in arrears, it is then automatically placed on the lapsed license list for purposes of being dropped. Six (6) embalmer licenses, and three (3) funeral directors were included on this list for the months with renewals due by January 31, 2010 through March 31, 2010.

             4)     (Bedene-Young) To approve the FY 2010 second quarter (January 1-March 31, 2010) Report of the Funeral Home/Crematory Inspector, Francis F. Mills. Carried. 184 inspections were conducted during the quarter including four (4) violations relating to failure to submit prefinanced agreement rosters by their due date and preparation room issues were noted.

             5)     Reviewed the current roster of apprentice embalmers and funeral directors. A total of 27 apprentices are currently registered with the board at this time, including: fifteen (15) embalmer-funeral directors, four (4) embalmers and eight (8) funeral directors.

             6)     Discussion of news articles relating to the funeral profession that has been provided to board members and legal counsel for their review. Items include: Cemetery trust fund compliance, military burials, FTC inspections, casket makers/sales hit, cremation/scattering, home funerals, cemetery legislative proposals, fewer funeral processions

             7)     Future regularly scheduled 2010 board meeting dates are: July 8 and October 14.

             8)     The board signed travel vouchers and licenses.

             9)     The Attorney General’s Office will offer a Board Commission Orientation Program on Friday, April 23, 2010.

          10)     The filing deadline for Statements of Substantial Interest Reports (SSI) is April 30, 2010.

VII.     Executive Secretary's Report:

            1)      Budget Update–Currently the board budgets for FY 2010 and FY 2011 are $271,510–although the Legislature has not settled anything yet. The Board’s executive secretary’s salary was cut 5% as were all other agency heads with other cuts expected.

            2)      Updated information regarding the International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards (ICFSEB).

a) Executive Secretary Smith represented the board at the 2010 ICFSEB’s Annual Convention in Los Angeles, California on February 25-26, 2010. Mr. Smith
reported the conference was excellent with new helpful information provided.

            3)      Updated information on the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR) was discussed.

a) Due to budget restraints, Mr. Smith did not attend the Mid-Year Meeting held in New Orleans, Louisiana.

            4)      Updated information regarding the Federation of Associations of Regulatory Boards (FARB.)

a) Due to budget restraints, Mr. Smith did not attend the 2010 Annual FARB Forum held on January 28-30, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

            5)      Updated information on the Kansas Funeral Directors and Embalmers Association (KFDA.)

a) Mr. Smith represented the board at the KFDA’s 2010 Spring Regional Meetings at four (4) locations around the state.

b) The board discussed comments made in the January 2010 KFDA Journal.

c) The board’s staff will attend the upcoming Tri-State Convention in Overland Park as schedules and budget permits.

            6)      New/updated information located on the board’s Web Site, which can be found at: http://www.kansas.gov/ksbma/.

a) There were 111,819 successful requests on the KSBMA web site for the month of March 2010–which is the highest recorded total since records have been kept.

b) Kansas.gov continues to work on setting up the entire KSBMA renewal process, KanPay, so that it will be able to be performed on-line. We continued to meet with representatives with no immediate completion date. Currently, license renewals can be paid on-line but are not final until all paperwork has been filed with the board.

           7)       The board discussed information pertaining to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA).

           8)       Updated information from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the Funeral Rule was discussed, including recent undercover inspections of funeral homes across the country.

            9)      Updated information from the American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE.)

          10)     Updated information from the Cremation Society of North America (CANA)

a) CANA updated their Model Cremation Law at their board meeting on January 12, 2010

b) Information pertaining to Alkaline Hydrolysis, provided by CANA, was discussed. One Kansas funeral home has expressed an interest in this process.

          11)     Updated information from the Funeral Ethics Association (FEA).

          12) Updated information from the Funeral Consumer Alliance (FCA).

          13)     Updated information from the Funeral Consumer’s Alliance of Greater Kansas City.

          14)     Updated information from the Funeral Ethics Organization (FEO).

          15)     Updated information from the American Society of Embalmers (ASE.)

a) The ASE Annual Meeting and Conference will be held on June 11, 2010 in Wheeling, Illinois

          16)     Updated information from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), Office of Vital Statistics (OVS.)

          17)     Updated information from the Kansas City Kansas Community College (KCKCC) Mortuary Science Program.

          18)     Kansas Mass Fatality Planning Task Force

          19)     SMART/FMS Update–The new financial management system of the State of Kansas which will be implemented July 1, 2010 for FY 2011

VIII.    Board Interviews with Applicants for Licensure:

Embalmer-Funeral Director Applicant: Ms. Lynsie M. Dickey

(Holroyd-Young) To grant an embalmer license upon payment of an initial license fee of $168.00 and to grant a funeral director license upon passing the written funeral director examination, which will be administered later today, and payment of an initial license fee of $228.00. Carried. Ms. Dickey completed her embalming and funeral directing apprenticeships at Penwell-Gabel Funeral Home and Crematory, Mid-Town Chapel and Parker-Price Chapel in Topeka, Kansas on March 6, 2010. Once issued, the renewal date for both licenses would be April 30, 2012. She attended Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, and Kansas City Kansas Community College in Kansas City, Kansas where she earned an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) Degree in Mortuary Science.

Embalmer Applicant: Ms. Keesha M. Harris

(Bedene-Young) To grant an embalmer license upon completion of apprenticeship and payment of an initial license fee of $28.00. Carried. With continuous employment, Ms. Harris will complete her embalming apprenticeship at Duane E. Harvey Funeral Directors in Kansas City, Kansas on May 14, 2010. Once issued, the renewal date for the embalmer license would be August 31, 2010. Ms. Harris attended St. Louis Community College in St. Louis, Missouri and earned an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) Degree in Mortuary Science at Kansas City, Kansas Community College.

Embalmer-Funeral Director Applicant: Mr. Christopher W. Hatton

(Young-Bedene) To grant an embalmer license upon completion of apprenticeship and payment of an initial license fee of $28.00 and to grant a funeral director license upon passing the written funeral director examination, which will be administered later today, and payment of an initial license fee of $8.00. Carried. Upon continuous employment, Mr. Hatton is scheduled to complete his embalming and funeral directing apprenticeships at Larrison Mortuary in Pratt, Kansas on May 13, 2010. Once issued, the renewal date for both licenses will be August 31, 2010. Mr. Hatton earned an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) Degree at the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Embalmer-Funeral Director Applicant: Mr. Aaron V. Overlease

(Bedene-Holroyd) To grant an embalmer license upon payment of an initial license fee of $84.00 and to grant a funeral director license upon passing the written funeral director examination, which will be administered later today and payment of an initial license fee of $24.00. Carried. Mr. Overlease completed his embalming and funeral directing apprenticeships at Birzer Funeral Home in Lyons and Sterling, Kansas on April 7 , 2010. Once issued, the renewal date for both licenses would be March 31, 2011. He attended Colby Community College in Colby, Kansas, Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas and earned an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) Degree in Mortuary Science at Kansas City Kansas Community College in Kansas City, Kansas.

Reciprocal (Illinois) Embalmer-Funeral Director Applicant: Ms. Laura C. Henderson

(Young-Bedene) To grant a reciprocal (Illinois) embalmer license upon payment of an initial license fee of $35.00 and to grant a funeral director license upon passing the written funeral director examination, which will be administered later today and payment of an initial license fee of $47.50. Carried. Once issued, the renewal date for both licenses will be August 31, 2010. Ms. Henderson was formerly licensed in Arizona. She earned an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) Degree in Funeral Science Education at St. Louis Community College in St. Louis, Missouri. She plans on opening Heartland Mortuary and Crematory in Preston, Kansas in May, 2010.

Funeral Director Applicant: Ms. Brooke T. Chadd

(Bedene-Young) To grant a funeral director license upon completion of apprenticeship, passing the written funeral director examination, which will be administered later today and payment of an initial license fee of $48.00. Carried. With continuous employment, Ms. Chadd is scheduled to complete her funeral directing apprenticeship on April 20, 2010 at Lakeview Funeral Home in Wichita, Kansas. She served portions of her funeral directing apprenticeship at DeVorss Flanagan-Hunt Mortuary in Wichita, Kansas and Chapel Hill-Butler Funeral Home in Kansas City, Kansas. Ms. Chadd attended Pratt Community College in Pratt, Kansas and earned an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) Degree in Mortuary Science at Kansas City Kansas Community College in Kansas City, Kansas.

IX.      New/Old/Remaining Business/Adjournment

There was no new, old, or remaining business brought up.

(Young-Holroyd) To adjourn–subject to recall by the president, vice president or executive secretary. Carried. The date of the next regularly scheduled board meeting is Thursday, July 8, 2010.

At approximately 1:30 p.m. Executive Secretary Smith read instructions to the funeral directors’ examinee applicants prior to the administration of the funeral director examination which was proctored by Inspector Francis Mills in the Florentine Room of the Jayhawk Tower. The results of that examination are a part of these minutes.

Respectfully submitted:  

Mack Smith, Executive Secretary

Fred G. Holroyd, President

Thursday, July 8, 2010