§ 34-13-20 — Creation; Composition; Qualifications of Members; Appointment and Removal from Board

(a) There is established the Alabama Board of Funeral Services, consisting of 14 members, each of whom shall be citizens of the United States and residents of the State of Alabama. The membership of the board shall be divided into two distinct divisions, the funeral division and the preneed division, with each division having jurisdiction over its respective areas of service.
(b) The appointing authorities shall coordinate their appointments to assure board membership is inclusive and reflects the racial, gender, geographic,
urban, rural
, and economic diversity of the state.
(c)
(1)
Commencing on January 1, 2019, as the terms of the members serving on the board on August 1, 2017, expire, the membership of the
funeral division of the
board shall be reconstituted to consist of seven professional members and two consumer members.
Each professional member of the funeral division of the board shall be a citizen of the United States, a resident of Alabama, and licensed and in good standing with the board as an embalmer or funeral director at the time of appointment and during the entire term of office. Professional members of the funeral division of the board shall be appointed by the Governor pursuant to subsection (e). As the terms of the members serving on the board on October 1, 2023, expire, the professional membership of the funeral division of the board shall be appointed to reflect the following:
a.
Three
of the professional members of the board shall hold a current license from the board to practice embalming in the state, shall have been actively practicing embalming in the state for the last 10 consecutive years immediately preceding appointment, and shall be engaged in the practice of embalming at the time of appointment to the board.
b.
Four
of the professional members of the board shall hold a current license from the board to practice funeral directing in the state, shall have been actively engaged in funeral directing in the state for the last 10 consecutive years immediately preceding appointment, and shall be the operator of a funeral establishment in this state at the time of appointment to the board.
(2) Commencing on October 1, 2023, the preneed division of the board shall be created to consist of four professional members and one consumer member. Two professional members shall be licensed funeral directors and two professional members shall be licensed preneed sales agents employed by a cemetery. Each professional member of the preneed division of the board shall hold a current license from the board to practice as a preneed sales agent, shall have been actively engaged in preneed sales or direct management of preneed sales in the state for the last five consecutive years immediately preceding appointment, and shall be employed by a certificate of authority license holder in this state at the time of appointment to the board. Two of these professional members shall also hold a current certificate of authority to sell preneed services and merchandise. The initial appointment of two of the preneed sales agents appointed pursuant to this subdivision shall expire on December 31, 2025, and for the other two, shall expire on December 31, 2026. Thereafter, the preneed sales agent members shall serve pursuant to subsection (e). Professional members of the board shall be appointed by the Governor pursuant to subsection (e).
(3)
Each consumer member of the board shall represent the public in general and shall have been a citizen of the United States and a resident of Alabama for the last 10 consecutive years immediately preceding appointment and during the entire term of office. A consumer member of the board may not have held, nor currently hold, a license or certification issued by the board, be employed at any time by, or professionally or financially associated with, the holder of a license or certificate issued by the board, or be related within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity to the holder of a license or certificate issued by the board.
Two
consumer
members
of the board shall be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and one consumer member shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives pursuant to a procedure adopted by rule of the board.
(d) Commencing in October of 2018, and each October thereafter of a year where at least one professional member term on
either division of
the board has expired,
all licensed funeral directors and licensed embalmers
for a funeral division board member, and all licensed preneed sales agents for a preneed division board member,
shall meet in Montgomery, at a time and place fixed by the
respective division of the
board, for the purpose of nominating and submitting the names of three licensed persons for each position on the board to the Governor. The Governor shall promptly appoint one of the three persons so nominated to serve as a professional member of the board.
(e)(1) Professional and consumer members of the board shall serve staggered terms of four years each to provide continuity of service on the board. If an appointment is not made before the expiration of a term, the board member then serving may continue to serve until a successor has been appointed. A board member may not serve more than two full consecutive terms on the board.
(2)
A vacancy on the board for any reason shall be filled by appointment of the Governor for the unexpired term. The appointee shall serve until his or her successor is nominated and appointed pursuant to subsection (d).
If a member is appointed to fill an unexpired term of less than two years, the time may not be counted toward the maximum eight years of service.
(3)
Only
one professional
funeral division board member and one professional preneed division board
member of
a division
may reside in
each
district
created by Section 34-13-21.
(4) At each meeting where nominations are made for the professional members of the
funeral division of the
board, only one licensed funeral director or licensed embalmer employed by the same funeral establishment may vote.
At each meeting where nominations are made for the professional members of the preneed division of the board, only one licensed preneed sales agent employed by the same certificate of authority holder may vote.
(f)(1) In accordance with applicable law, in addition to a board member resigning from the board in writing, a board member may be removed from the board for any of the following grounds:
a. The refusal or inability to perform board duties in an efficient, responsible, or professional manner.
b. The misuse of his or her position on the board to obtain financial gain or seek personal advantage for himself, herself, or another person.
c. A final adjudication or determination of guilt by any lawful authority of the board member or sanction of the board member for the violation of any law the board determines is substantially related to any practice governed by this chapter.
d. The revocation or suspension of the license of a professional member of the board.
(2) Any board member who fails to qualify after appointment shall automatically become ineligible to serve as a member of the board and a new member, properly qualified, shall be appointed in the same manner as the original appointment and shall serve the remainder of the term of the vacating board member.
(3) If a consumer board member fails to attend two or more meetings within a year, without a valid excuse as determined by the board, he or she shall be removed from the board. A new consumer board member shall be appointed in the same manner as the original appointment and shall serve the remainder of the term.
(g)(1) The status of any person or entity properly licensed by the Alabama Board of Funeral Service on October 1, 2023, shall continue under the Alabama Board of Funeral Services.
(2) All the rights, duties, property, real or personal, and all other effects existing in the name of the Alabama Board of Funeral Service shall be transferred to the Alabama Board of Funeral Services. Any reference to the Alabama Board of Funeral Service in any existing law, contract, or other instrument, shall be deemed a reference to the Alabama Board of Funeral Services.
(3) A reasonable transition period for the name change shall be allowed to permit an orderly and cost-effective transition, relating particularly to the use of equipment and supplies, all letterhead, business cards, forms, and any other materials in use by the board containing the name Alabama Board of Funeral Service shall continue to be used by the Alabama Board of Funeral Services until the supplies are exhausted. Replacement supplies shall contain the name of the Alabama Board of Funeral Services.
(4) The Code Commissioner, pursuant to Section 29-5A-22, at times determined appropriate, shall implement this statutory name change in applicable sections of this code.

Legislative History

(Acts 1975, No. 214, p. 705, §3; Acts 1983, No. 83-746, p. 1235, §1; Act 2009-12, p. 22, §3; Act 2011-623, p. 1439, §1; Act 2014-125, p. 206, §1; Act 2017-433, §1; Act 2018-451, §1; Act 2023-94, §1.)