WEST virginia Legislature
2016 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 4658
By Delegates Howell, Arvon, Ihle, Moffatt, Hill, Cadle, Hamrick, lynch, Blair, P. White and R. Smith
[Introduced February 22,
2016; Referred
to the Committee on Government Organization.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §30-6-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the Board of Funeral Service Examiners; changing the qualifications for board members; providing for the continuous service of qualifying board members; and providing for the disqualification of certain members who become licensees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §30-6-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. BOARD OF FUNERAL SERVICE EXAMINERS.
§30-6-4. Board of funeral service examiners.
(a) The “West Virginia
Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors” is hereby continued. and
shall, after June 30, 2002, be known as the AWest Virginia Board of Funeral Service Examiners@. The members of the board in office on July 1, 2002
shall, unless sooner removed, continue to serve until their respective terms
expire and until their successors have been appointed and qualified
(b) Commencing with the board
terms beginning July 1, 2002 reenactment of this section in 2016,
the board shall consist of seven members appointed for terms of four years by
the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Five members
must be licensed embalmers and funeral directors, and one member must be a
citizen member who is not licensed, certified or registered under the
provisions of this article and who is not a person who performs any services
related to the practice of embalming or funeral directing. Commencing with the
board terms beginning July 1, 2002, the Governor shall appoint, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, one person who operates a crematory in West
Virginia which person shall replace the current board member whose term ended
on June 30, 2002. The crematory operator who is appointed for the term
commencing July 1, 2002, shall register and be certified, pursuant to the
provisions of this article. Any crematory operator appointed thereafter shall
be certified, pursuant to the provisions of this article Three members
must be licensed embalmers and funeral directors and four members must be
citizen members who are not licensed, certified, or registered under the
provisions of this article, and who do not perform any services related to the
practice of embalming or funeral directing or the funeral home business.
(c) Each licensed member of
the board, at the time of his or her appointment, must have held a license in
this state for a period of not less than five years immediately preceding the
appointment and each member must be a resident of this state during the
appointment term. Each certified member must abide by the provisions of
subsection (b) of this section. Board members must represent at least four different
geographic regions of the state Nonlicensed members must be as equally
distributed between the congressional districts as is feasible and no two
members may be from the same county.
(d) Members of the board as of the effective date of this section may continue to serve their term without regard to the status of their license until a successor is appointed by the Governor.
(e) Any member who is unlicensed immediately and automatically forfeits his or her membership on the board if he or she obtains an active license that would permit him or her to practice under the provisions of this article, obtains a similar license that would permit him or her to practice under the provisions of this article, obtains a similar license from another jurisdiction, or would otherwise be disqualified for appointment under subsection (b) of this section.
(d) (f) No member may serve more than two
consecutive full terms and any member having served two full terms may not be
appointed for one year after completion of his or her second full term. A
member shall continue to serve until his or her successor has been appointed
and qualified.
(e) (g) The Governor may remove any member from
the board for neglect of duty, incompetency or official misconduct.
(f) (h) Any member of the board immediately and
automatically forfeits his or her membership if he or she has his or her
license or certificate to practice suspended or revoked by the board, is
convicted of a felony under the laws of any state or the United States or
becomes a nonresident of this state.
(g) (i) The board shall annually elect one of its
members as president and one of its members as secretary.
(h) (j) Each member of the board shall receive
compensation and expense reimbursement in accordance with section eleven,
article one of this chapter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change the qualifications for board members of the Board of Funeral Service Examiners while providing for the continuous service of qualifying board members. The bill also provides for the disqualification of certain members who become licensees.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.