SECTION 203.22. Funeral Director in Charge

(a) Each licensed funeral establishment must at all times have a designated Funeral Director in Charge, who is ultimately responsible for compliance with all mortuary, health, and vital statistics laws in the funeral establishment. A funeral establishment must designate a Funeral Director in Charge at the time it receives its establishment license, and any time the Funeral Director in Charge changes the funeral establishment must notify the Commission, on a form prescribed by the Commission, within 15 days.

(b) The Funeral Director in Charge must be generally available in the routine functions of the funeral establishment in order to personally carry out his or her responsibilities.

(c) The Funeral Director in Charge may be served with administrative process when violations are alleged to have been committed in a funeral establishment.

(d) An individual may not be designated as the Funeral Director and/or an Embalmer in Charge of more than one establishment unless the additional establishments are under the same ownership and no establishment is more than 100 miles from any other establishment held under the same ownership conditions.

(e) In order to be designated Funeral Director in Charge of more than one establishment, the licensee must submit a petition to the Commission that clearly explains how each of the criteria in subsection (d) of this section has been met. The Executive Director shall decide whether to grant the petition. The request and decision will be made part of the permanent licensing file. The Executive Director's decision to deny may be appealed, in writing, to the Commissioners, and the appeal will be considered at the Commission's next regularly scheduled meeting.

(f) If the establishment employs a provisional licensee it is the responsibility of the Funeral Director in Charge and the provisional licensee to schedule case work sufficient for the provisional program. It is the responsibility of the Funeral Director in Charge to ensure that each provisional licensee is properly supervised while performing cases.

(g) The Funeral Director in Charge shall retain the originals of all provisional license case reports with supporting documentation for two years from the completion date of the provisional program.

(h) If a provisional licensee leaves the employment of a Funeral Director in Charge, the Funeral Director in Charge must file an affidavit as described in Occupations Code §651.304(d) within 15 days of employment termination.

Source Note: The provisions of this §203.22 adopted to be effective October 18, 2015, 40 TexReg 7069