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An Act
ENROLLED HOUSE
BILL NO. 4322 By: Kendrix of the House
and
Howard of the Senate
An Act relating to professions and occupations;
amending 59 O.S. 2021, Section 396.2, which relates
to the Funeral Services Licensing Act definitions;
modifying definition for funeral director in charge;
amending 59 O.S. 2021, Section 396.3, as last amended
by Section 1, Chapter 50, O.S.L. 2025 (59 O.S. Supp.
2025, Section 396.3), which relates to funeral
director in charge duties; removing requirement for
funeral directors to be dually licensed; and
providing an effective date.
SUBJECT: Professions and occupations
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 59 O.S. 2021, Section 396.2, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 396.2. As used in the Funeral Services Licensing Act:
1. "Embalmer" means a person who disinfects or preserves dead
human remains, entire or in part, by the use of chemical substances,
fluids or gases in the remains, or by the introduction of same into
the remains by vascular or hypodermic injection, or by direct
application into organs or cavities;
2. "Funeral director" means a person who:
a. is engaged in or conducts or represents themselves as
being engaged in preparing for the burial or disposal
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and directing and supervising the burial or disposal
of dead human remains,
b. is engaged in or conducts or represents themselves as
being engaged in maintaining a funeral establishment
for the preparation and the disposition, or for the
care of dead human remains,
c. uses, in connection with the name of the person or
funeral establishment, the words "funeral director" or
"undertaker" or "mortician" or any other title
implying that the person is engaged as a funeral
director,
d. sells funeral service merchandise to the public, or
e. is responsible for the legal and ethical operation of
a crematory;
3. "Funeral establishment" means a place of business used in
the care and preparation for burial, commercial embalming, or
transportation of dead human remains, or any place where any person
or persons shall hold forth and be engaged in the profession of
undertaking or funeral directing;
4. "Apprentice" means a person who is engaged in learning the
practice of embalming or the practice of funeral directing, as the
case may be, under the instruction and personal supervision of a
duly licensed embalmer or a duly licensed funeral director of and in
the State of Oklahoma, pursuant to the provisions of the Funeral
Services Licensing Act, and who is duly registered as such with said
Board;
5. "Board" means the Oklahoma Funeral Board;
6. "Directing a funeral" or "funeral directing" means directing
funeral services from the time of the first call until final
disposition or release to a common carrier or release to next of kin
of the deceased or the designee of the next of kin;
7. "First call" means the beginning of the relationship and
duty of the funeral director to take charge of dead human remains
and have such remains prepared by embalming, cremation, or
otherwise, for burial or disposition, provided all laws pertaining
to public health in this state are complied with. First call does
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not include calls made by ambulance, when the person dispatching the
ambulance does not know whether or not dead human remains are to be
picked up;
8. "Personal supervision" means the physical presence of a
licensed funeral director or embalmer at the specified time and
place of the providing of acts of funeral service;
9. "Commercial embalming establishment" means a fixed place of
business consisting of an equipped preparation room, and other rooms
as necessary, for the specified purpose of performing preparation
and shipping services of dead human remains to funeral
establishments inside and outside this state;
10. "Funeral service merchandise or funeral services" means
those products and services normally provided by funeral
establishments and required to be listed on the General Price List
of the Federal Trade Commission, 15 U.S.C., Section 57a(a),
including, but not limited to, the sale of burial supplies and
equipment, but excluding the sale by a cemetery of lands or
interests therein, services incidental thereto, markers, memorials,
monuments, equipment, crypts, niches or outer enclosures;
11. "Outer enclosure" means a grave liner, grave box, or grave
vault;
12. "Funeral director in charge" means an individual licensed
as both a funeral director and embalmer designated by a funeral
service establishment, commercial embalming establishment, or
crematory who is responsible for the legal and ethical operation of
the establishment and is accountable to the Board;
13. "Authorizing agent" means a person legally entitled to
order the cremation or final disposition of particular human remains
pursuant to Section 1151 or 1158 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma
Statutes;
14. "Cremation" means the technical process, using heat and
flame, or heat and pressure, that reduces human remains to essential
elements, including bone fragments. The reduction takes place
through heat and evaporation. Cremation shall include, but not be
limited to, the processing and pulverization of the bone fragments,
or through alkaline hydrolysis;
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15. "Crematory" means a structure containing a furnace or
alkaline hydrolysis vessel used or intended to be used for the
cremation of human remains. The term includes a facility that
cremates human remains through alkaline hydrolysis; and
16. "Alkaline hydrolysis" means the reduction of human remains
to bone fragments and essential elements in a licensed crematory
using heat, pressure, water and base chemical agents.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 59 O.S. 2021, Section 396.3, as
last amended by Section 1, Chapter 50, O.S.L. 2025 (59 O.S. Supp.
2025, Section 396.3), is amended to read as follows:
Section 396.3. A. The Oklahoma Funeral Board shall determine
the qualifications necessary to enable any person to practice as a
funeral director or embalmer, and prescribe the requirements for a
funeral establishment or commercial embalming establishment. The
Board shall examine all applicants for licenses to practice as a
funeral director or embalmer. The Board shall issue the proper
licenses to applicants who successfully pass such examination and
qualify pursuant to any additional requirements the Board may
prescribe.
B. 1. Except as provided in subsection C of this section, the
minimum requirements for a license to practice funeral directing or
embalming, or both, are as follows:
An applicant for a license to practice funeral directing or
embalming shall be at least eighteen (18) years of age, a legal
resident of this state, and a citizen or permanent resident of the
United States. In addition, an applicant shall be a graduate of a
program of mortuary science accredited by the American Board of
Funeral Service Education, and have served one (1) year as a
registered apprentice. The applicant may serve as a registered
apprentice prior to enrollment in an approved school of mortuary
science, or subsequent to graduation from the school, and pass any
of the following relevant exams necessary for licensure: the
International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Board National
Board Science Examination, the International Conference of Funeral
Service Examining Board National Board Arts Examination, the
Oklahoma Funeral Directors Examination, or the Oklahoma Embalmers
Examination with a seventy-five (75) or higher score on each exam.
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2. Curriculum of study for an embalmer or funeral director is a
program of mortuary science which shall be that prescribed by the
American Board of Funeral Service Education.
C. 1. If a person chooses not to meet the qualifications in
subsection B of this section for a funeral director, the person may
alternatively qualify for a license to practice funeral directing,
but not embalming, upon meeting the eligibility requirements of this
subsection as follows:
An applicant for a license to practice funeral directing shall
be at least eighteen (18) years of age, a legal resident of this
state, and a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. An
applicant is required to complete a funeral director course of study
approved by the Oklahoma Funeral Board and that is administered by a
program of funeral service/mortuary science accredited by the
American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE). The funeral
director course of study shall include at least thirty (30) semester
hours or equivalent closely following the ABFSE curriculum standard,
limited to only: Business Management, Cremation, Social
Sciences/Humanities, Legal, Ethical, Regulatory, plus essential
elements of embalming, restorative art, general concerns when
dealing with human remains, a practicum experience, and preparation
for the required board exams. In addition to the funeral director
course of study, the applicant is required to complete a twelve-
month minimum term as a registered apprentice with employment at a
licensed establishment and must have assisted with twenty-five
arrangement conferences and assisted with twenty-five separate
funeral or memorial services under the supervision of a licensed
funeral director in this state. The applicant may serve as a
registered apprentice prior to enrollment in an approved school of
mortuary science, concurrently while in mortuary school, or
subsequent to completion of the funeral director course of study.
2. Curriculum of study for a funeral director license shall be
in a program of mortuary science which shall be that prescribed by
the Oklahoma Funeral Board. An applicant must pay all fees as
provided in Section 396.4 of this title and pass an exam provided by
the International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Board or
the Oklahoma Funeral Directors Exam with a score of seventy-five
(75) or higher as well as pass a law exam provided by the Oklahoma
Funeral Board, with a score of seventy-five (75) or higher. A
license to practice as a funeral director issued pursuant to this
subsection shall be restricted to funeral director, and the licensee
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shall not be eligible to practice as the funeral director in charge
as defined in Section 396.2 of this title.
3. If a person chooses not to meet the qualifications in
subsection B of this section for an embalmer, the person may
alternatively qualify for a license to practice embalming, upon
meeting the eligibility requirements of this subsection as follows:
An applicant for a license of this state, a citizen or permanent
resident of the United States, and of good moral character. An
applicant is required to complete an embalmer course of study
approved by the Oklahoma Funeral Board and that is administered by a
program of funeral service/mortuary science accredited by the
American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE). The embalmer
course of study shall include at least thirty (30) semester hours or
equivalent closely following the ABFSE curriculum standard, limited
to only: Biology, Chemistry, Microbiology, Human Anatomy,
Pathology, Embalming, Embalming Chemistry, and Restorative Art, plus
essential elements of grief, communication, and preparation for the
required board examinations. The applicant must also complete a
twelve-month minimum term as a registered apprentice with full-time
employment at a licensed establishment or licensed commercial
embalming establishment and must have assisted with twenty-five
embalmings under the supervision of a licensed embalmer in this
state. The applicant may serve as a registered apprentice prior to
enrollment in an approved school of mortuary science, concurrently
while in mortuary school, or subsequent to completion of the
embalmer course of study.
4. Curriculum of study for an embalmer license shall be in a
program of funeral service/mortuary science which shall be that
prescribed by the Oklahoma Funeral Board. An applicant must pay all
fees as provided in Section 396.4 of this title and pass the
embalmer examination provided by the International Conference of
Funeral Service Examining Board or the Oklahoma Embalmers Exam with
a score of seventy-five (75) or higher as well as pass a law exam
provided by the Oklahoma Funeral Board with a score of seventy-five
(75) or higher. A license to practice as an embalmer issued
pursuant to this subsection shall be restricted to embalmer, and the
licensee shall not be eligible to practice as the funeral director
in charge as defined in Section 396.2 of this title.
D. The Board shall issue the appropriate license to any
qualified applicant whose application has been approved by the
Board, and who has paid the fees required by Section 396.4 of this
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title, has passed the required examinations with a seventy-five (75)
or higher score and has demonstrated to the Board proficiency as an
embalmer or funeral director.
E. The Board shall maintain for public inspection a list of all
accredited schools of embalming and mortuary science.
F. Each funeral director in charge as defined in Section 396.2
of this title shall have a current dual funeral director and
embalmer license. A funeral director in charge of a funeral service
establishment or crematory that does not have a current dual funeral
director and embalmer license on the effective date of this act
shall be considered to be grandfathered and may serve as funeral
director in charge of any funeral service establishment or crematory
in accordance with rules prescribed by the Board, but shall not
serve as funeral director in charge of a commercial embalming
establishment which shall require a current dual funeral director
and embalmer license.
G. Upon April 23, 2021, and for one (1) year thereafter, the
Board may issue a temporary funeral director or embalmer license in
the event a statewide state of emergency is declared by the Governor
and during such time as the state of emergency is in effect.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2026.
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Passed the House of Representatives the 17th day of March, 2026.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
Passed the Senate the 5th day of May, 2026.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Received by the Office of the Governor this ____________________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________
Approved by the Governor of the State of Oklahoma this _________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
_________________________________
Governor of the State of Oklahoma
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this __________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________