74th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2007 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 1200
House Bill 2029
Ordered printed by the Speaker pursuant to House Rule 12.00A (5).
Presession filed (at the request of House Interim Committee on
Revenue)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Requires State Mortuary and Cemetery Board to resolve complaint
within 180 days from receipt of investigator's report.
Allows board to grant one 30-day extension of time for
investigator to make report.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to investigations by State Mortuary and Cemetery Board;
creating new provisions; and amending ORS 692.180.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 692.180 is amended to read:
692.180. (1) Upon complaint or upon its own motion, the State
Mortuary and Cemetery Board may investigate any complaint
concerning any person, licensee or holder of a certificate of
authority made by any person or by the board. If the board finds
any of the causes described in this section in regard to any
person, licensee or applicant or the holder of a certificate of
authority, the board may impose a civil penalty of not more than
$1,000 for each violation, suspend or revoke a license to
practice or to operate under this chapter or refuse to grant or
renew a license. The causes are as follows:
(a) Misrepresentation in the conduct of business or in
obtaining a license.
(b) Fraudulent or dishonest conduct, when the conduct bears a
demonstrable relationship to funeral service practice, embalming
practice or the operation of cemeteries or crematoriums.
(c) Except as provided in this paragraph, solicitation of human
dead bodies by the licensee or any agent, assistant or employee
of the licensee, either before or after death. This paragraph
does not apply to:
(A) Activities permissible under ORS 97.923 to 97.949; or
(B) The sale, in accordance with provisions of the Insurance
Code, of prearranged funeral or cemetery merchandise or services,
or any combination thereof, to be funded by the contemporaneous
or subsequent assignment of a life insurance policy or an annuity
contract.
(d) Offensive treatment of dead human bodies or a body in the
person's custody has been disposed of in violation of ORS chapter
432 or rules adopted pursuant thereto.
(e) Aiding or abetting a person who is not a licensee or an
apprentice in any act involving the disposition of dead human
bodies before the bodies undergo cremation, entombment or burial
or before the bodies are transported out of the State of Oregon.
(f) Sale or reuse of any casket or body container that has been
previously utilized for the placement of a deceased human body.
This does not include use of a rental cover as defined in ORS
692.010.
(g) Violation of any of the provisions of this chapter or any
rules adopted under this chapter.
(h) Violation of any provision of ORS { - 97.929 or - }
97.937 or regulations adopted by the Federal Trade Commission
regulating funeral industry practices.
(i) Conviction of a crime, when the crime bears a demonstrable
relationship to funeral service practice, embalming practice or
the operation of cemeteries or crematoriums. A copy of the record
of the conviction certified to by the clerk of the court entering
the conviction shall be conclusive evidence of the conviction.
(j) Violation of ORS chapter 97 as it relates to disposition of
human bodies and to cemeteries.
(k) Refusing to surrender promptly the custody of a dead human
body, upon the express order of the person lawfully entitled to
the custody of the body.
(L) Acting as the legal representative of any deceased person
for whom the licensee has rendered services governed by this
chapter. This subsection does not prohibit a licensee from acting
as the legal representative of a deceased relative or a deceased
licensee if the deceased licensee was a partner, employee or
employer in the licensee's practice.
(m) Failure to pay any civil penalty imposed by the board
within 10 days after the order is entered or, if appealed, within
10 days after the order is sustained on appeal.
(2) All amounts recovered under this section shall be deposited
in accordance with ORS 692.375.
(3) Civil penalties under this section shall be imposed as
provided in ORS 183.745.
(4) { + (a) + } Upon receipt of a complaint, the board shall
conduct an investigation as described under ORS 676.165 { + ,
except that the board may grant only one 30-day extension of time
for the investigator to make the report + }.
{ + (b) If the board does not resolve the complaint within
180 days from receipt of the investigator's report, the board
shall dismiss the complaint. + }
(5) Information that the board obtains as part of an
investigation into licensee or applicant conduct or as part of a
contested case proceeding, consent order or stipulated agreement
involving licensee or applicant conduct is confidential as
provided under ORS 676.175.
SECTION 2. { + The amendments to ORS 692.180 by section 1 of
this 2007 Act apply to complaints made by persons or by the State
Mortuary and Cemetery Board on or after the effective date of
this 2007 Act. + }
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