OCCUPATIONS CODE

TITLE 3. HEALTH PROFESSIONS

SUBTITLE L.  CREMATORY SERVICES, FUNERAL DIRECTING, AND EMBALMING

CHAPTER 651.  CREMATORY SERVICES, FUNERAL DIRECTING, AND EMBALMING

SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 651.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
(1)  "Cemetery" means a place that is used or intended to be used for interment, and includes a graveyard, burial park, or mausoleum.
(2)  "Commission" means the Texas Funeral Service Commission.
(3)  "Crematory" means a structure containing a furnace used or intended to be used for the cremation of human remains.
(4)  "Embalmer" means a person licensed under this chapter who for compensation, wholly or partly, disinfects or preserves a dead human body by:
(A)  using chemical substances, fluids, or gases, including by introducing those substances, fluids, or gases into the body by:
(i)  vascular or hypodermic injection;  or
(ii)  direct application into the organs or cavities;  or
(B)  another method intended to disinfect or preserve a dead human body or to restore body tissues and structures.
(5)  "First call" means the beginning of the relationship and duty of a funeral director to take charge of a dead human body and have the body prepared for burial or disposition by embalming, cremation, or another method.  The term does not include an ambulance call if the person dispatching the ambulance does not know whether a dead human body is to be picked up.
(6)  "Funeral director" means a person licensed under this chapter who engages in for compensation, or represents to the public as being engaged in for compensation, the preparation, other than by embalming, of a dead human body for burial or other disposition.
(7)  "Funeral directing" means acts associated with or arranging for the disposition of a dead human body, performed by a person for compensation, from the time of first call until:
(A)  inurnment, interment, or entombment services are complete;  or
(B)  the body is permanently transported out of this state.
(8)  "Funeral establishment" means:
(A)  a place of business used in the care and preparation for burial or transportation of a dead human body;  or
(B)  any other place in which a person engages in, or represents the person to be engaged in, the business of embalming or funeral directing.
(9)  "Funeral merchandise" means merchandise sold primarily for use in:
(A)  a funeral ceremony;
(B)  embalming;  or
(C)  the care and preparation of a dead human body for burial, cremation, or other disposition.
(10)  "Funeral service" means a service performed incident to a funeral ceremony or for the care and preparation of a dead human body for burial, cremation, or other disposition.  The term includes embalming.
(11)  "Mortuary science" means the scientific, professional, and practical aspects, with consideration given to accepted practices, of the care, preparation for burial, or transportation of a dead human body.  The term includes the preservation and sanitation of a dead human body and restorative art.
(12)  "Outer enclosure" means an enclosure or container placed in a grave above or around the casket.  The term includes a burial vault, grave box, or grave liner.
(12-a)  "Perpetual care cemetery" means a cemetery regulated under Chapter 712, Health and Safety Code.
(13)  "Prospective customer" means a consumer who enters a funeral establishment and inquires about a funeral service, cremation, or merchandise.
(14)  "Provisional license holder" means a person who:
(A)  is engaged in learning the practice of funeral directing or embalming under the instruction, direction, and personal supervision of a funeral director or embalmer;  and
(B)  holds a provisional license issued by the commission under this chapter.
(15)  "Purchase agreement" means a written statement that itemizes the cost of funeral services or merchandise selected by a customer from the retail price list.
(16)  "Solicitation" means a direct or indirect contact by a funeral director, embalmer, or employee, agent, or representative of a licensed funeral establishment or any other entity with a person near death or the family of, next of kin of, or person responsible for making funeral arrangements for a person who is deceased or near death, if the contact is not initiated by the person near death or the family, next of kin, or person responsible for making funeral arrangements and the contact is to secure the right to provide funeral services or merchandise or occurs in a situation that might influence the contacted person to choose a particular funeral establishment.  The term does not include:
(A)  except in the case of contact with a person near death or the person responsible for making funeral arrangements for a person near death, an attempt to secure funeral business under a permit issued under Chapter 154, Finance Code;  or
(B)  any method of advertising by publication or broadcasting.
(17)  "Unit pricing" means a method of pricing that offers a discount to a purchaser who buys various funeral services and merchandise as a package.
Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.  Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 682, Sec. 1.03, eff. Sept. 1, 2001;  Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 562, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.