The State Board Report, a Ten
Year Comparison
Oklahoma Funeral Service 1991-2001
by Terry McEnany
Executive Secretary/Treasurer
Oklahoma State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors
May
8, 2001
Overview
An analysis of Oklahoma
funeral service over the past decade reveals we have more funeral homes and
fewer licensees to operate them than we did ten years ago.
The most striking statistic is a 32% increase in the number of funeral
establishments in Oklahoma during the past decade. During that same time period the number of deaths increased
by 11% to approximately 33,000/year.
In 1991, there were 336 funeral establishments in the state today we have
443. At first glance that seems
like a lot of new establishments have opened in the past ten years.
A more thorough investigation reveals that in 1991 the Funeral Services
Licensing Act and Board rules were changed and branch establishments which had
not been licensed prior to 1991 were licensed.
In 1992 the number of establishments swelled to 399. 1991 was also the
year that first permitted a funeral director to be in charge of multiple
establishments.
Licensee Demographics
The
past decade has seen a decrease in the number of licensees.
Embalmers decreased by 18 to a level of 1,118.
The number of Funeral Directors decreased by almost 10% to 1,194 in 2001.
Part of this decrease is the direct result of the retirement or death of post
World War Two licensees. The number of registered apprentice funeral
director/embalmers has declined by 35% to only 111 in 2001.
The declining number of apprentices parallels the national trend which
has seen a steady decline in graduates from the nations mortuary schools from
2,084 in 1994 to 1,818 in 1999. 2000
became the first year in which the number of females graduating from mortuary
school exceeded the number of males.
Who Owns What
The
vast majority (82%) of funeral homes within the state are independently owned.
In Oklahoma, as well as around the nation, we are seeing the growth of
small independent regional chains of two to four funeral homes to be the coming
trend. Just over half (52%) of the funeral homes in Oklahoma are now
organized as part of these regional independent chains.
There are 443 funeral establishments in the state owned by 234 entities
(Limited Liability Corporations, Corporations, Partnerships or Proprietorships).
Publicly traded and multi-state funeral home chains own 18% of the states
funeral homes. Loewen has 29
locations, Service Corporation International and Sentry Operating Company of
Texas 25 each, Carriage Services has one location in Oklahoma.
At the December 14, 2000 Board meeting the Canadian based Loewen Group
Inc. divested twenty four of their Oklahoma funeral home holdings following
their petition to reorganize under the Bankruptcy Code.
February 8, 2001 Service Corporation International closed three of their
funeral homes in Oklahoma. On April
18, 2001 the Fort Worth based Sentry Operating Company of Texas filed Chapter 11
Bankruptcy.
Fewer
Burial Associations More Crematories
Once
popular in Oklahoma the Burial Associations have almost disappeared.
In consideration of yearly dues the burial associations would provide a
set dollar amount, usually one or two hundred dollars, in burial benefits for an
entire family. This past decade the number of burial associations peaked at
463 in 1993. Over the years this
type of protection was replaced with more comprehensive prepaid funeral benefits
and most of the states burial associations have been dissolved. Today we have 87
burial associations and that number continues to decreases almost every month.
The Burial Associations were regulated by the State Burial Board until
1992 when it was merged with the State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors.
The first laws regulating crematories in the state were placed on the books in
1963. At that time there was only
one crematory in the state which was located in a Tulsa cemetery.
It was the only crematory between Dallas and Kansas City.
In 1981 a Oklahoma City funeral home installed the second crematory in
the state. Over the past ten years
the cremation rate has doubled in the state.
Today there are over two dozen crematories in the state which cremate
approximately 3,500 human remains annually.
Effective November 1, 2001 the Oklahoma State Board of Embalmers and
Funeral Directors will have the responsibility for the licensing, inspection and
regulation of crematories.
Regulatory
Enforcement
The
Board may impose sanctions for violations of the Funeral Services Licensing Act
or Board Rules including administrative fines of up to $10,000 and revocation of
licenses. In FY2001 the Board has received and investigated 34 complaints. Most
of the complaints fell outside the jurisdiction of the Board or were resolved
between the parties without further Board action. This past year the Board
conducted four hearings and accepted one consent order. Of the four hearings,
one instance involved alleged solicitation. The Board found the evidence did not support the charges and
the complaint was dismissed.
One
funeral director/embalmers and establishment license was revoked for multiple
violations. One funeral director
and establishment were fined $1,000 each for failing to present a statement of
goods and services to a client family. One funeral director and establishment were fined $5000 each
for not being present until the casket was inaccessible at the cemetery.
This past year the Board accepted a consent order in which a funeral director
surrendered his licenses and he and the establishment paid a fine of $15,000 for
preneed violations.
Challenges to the Funeral Services Licensing Act
On
March 14, 2001 the Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors was named defendant
in a lawsuit filed in United States District Court by a internet casket store
challenging the constitutionality of the Oklahoma Funeral Services Licensing Act
that prohibits non-licensed entities from engaging the retail sale of funeral
service merchandise. The lawsuit is very similar to the Stone Casket lawsuit in
1998.
In the Stone case the Oklahoma Supreme Court found the statutes, insofar as they
affect a citizen’s right to sell caskets, rationally furthers a legitimate
state interest and found it to be constitutional. Further, the Oklahoma Supreme Court also stated “Since we
hold that the manufacture and sale of caskets is part and parcel of the funeral
service business, and regulating that business and licensing qualified persons
engaged therein is a proper exercise of the police powers of the State, we need
not consider that issue further.” The
U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the case.
Minding
the Store
The
Board’s staff has been streamlined significantly in the past ten years.
Full time employees were reduced by 60%.
In 1991 the Board had five full time employees, none of whom were
licensed. Today the Board has only two full time employees and two part-time
employees. Three of the four have
backgrounds in funeral service.
The Board and staff have worked diligently in improving efficiency to
better serve the profession and the citizens of the State of Oklahoma with
principal activities focused on licensing, enforcement and serving as a
informational resource on funeral service.
This has been accomplished through concentrating on activities designed
to improve professional standards, delivery of services, and enhanced
administrative regulatory practices. It
is significant to note that this has been instituted without any fee increases.
In fact four fees have been eliminated during the past ten years: CE,
practicum registration, telemarketers and
funeral merchandise registration. The
Board has been proactive in sponsoring educational programs for the profession
and general public, as well as developing consumer brochures and reference
materials. In 1997 the Board went
online launching it’s web page www.state.ok.us/~embalm as a cost effective
method of transmitting information to the public. The web page contains Board minutes, agendas, forms,
directory of licensees, rules and statutes, as well as links to other funeral
related resources. The web page has
been well received with 500 visitors logging on to the site monthly.
In 1998 the Board initiated a comprehensive update of the
Funeral Services Licensing Act which focused the direction of the agency on
consumer protection and brought the Act up to date with contemporary funeral
service practices. It was the first
major revision since the early 1960’s. Oklahoma
funeral service laws rank among the top twelve in the country in terms of
consumer protection. In 2000 the
Rules of the Board were updated to reflect the changes in the Funeral Services
Licensing Act.
The contributions of the
Board have extended beyond the borders of Oklahoma.
For most of the past ten years the Board has been represented in
leadership positions in the International Conference of Funeral Service
Examining Boards and the National Board Examination Committee.
Oklahomans have also served with distinctions on the Committee on
Accreditation of the American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE). The
ABFSE is the sole agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to
accredit mortuary science programs. The
University of Central Oklahoma at Edmond is home to the states only mortuary
science program. It was the first
program in the nation to offer a bachelors degree in funeral service and is
nationally recognized for it high quality professional education.
The Oklahoma State Board
of Embalmers and Funeral Directors remains committed to providing a dynamic
forum for improving the quality and understanding of regulation in funeral
service in order to enhance public protection.
*The year
end statistics for FY2001 are not yet complete and are based on the best
information available and projections where necessary.
