HCS HB 2388 -- FUNERAL HOMES, FUNERAL CONTRACTS, AND PROFESSIONAL
REGISTRATION

SPONSOR:  Wasson

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Special Committee on
Professional Registration and Licensing by a vote of 14 to 0.

This substitute changes the laws regarding the disposition of
cremated human remains, an asset exemption for certain
prearranged funeral and burial contracts, endowed care
cemeteries, and the regulations of the Department of Insurance,
Financial Institutions and Professional Registration.

DISPOSITION OF CREMATED HUMAN REMAINS (Section 194.350, RSMo)

A licensed funeral establishment is allowed to dispose of
cremated human remains in accordance with a cremation contract
except if otherwise prohibited by law.  Currently, a licensed
funeral establishment is required to send written notice by
certified mail, returned receipt requested, to the licensed
funeral establishment or person who contracted for the cremation
stating that the remains will be scattered or interred unless the
remains are claimed and removed within 90 days.

The substitute removes the certified mail requirement and allows
a licensed funeral establishment to send a written notice, with
confirmation of delivery, to the last known address of the person
or funeral establishment that contracted for the cremation.  The
provision is also repealed which requires the notification of a
scattering or interment of cremated remains to be published in a
local newspaper if the mailed written notice cannot be delivered.

ASSET EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN PREARRANGED FUNERAL AND BURIAL
CONTRACTS (Section 208.010)

The substitute specifies that in determining eligibility and the
amount of benefits to be granted under federally aided state
public assistance programs, the value of any life insurance
policy where a seller or provider is made the beneficiary or the
policy is assigned to a seller or provider, either being in
consideration for an irrevocable prearranged funeral contract
under Chapter 436, RSMo, will not be taken into account or
considered an asset of the beneficiary named in the irrevocable
prearranged funeral contract.

ENDOWED CARE CEMETERIES (Sections 214.277, 214.282, 214.283,
214.320, 214.330, 214.367, 214.387, 214.389, and 214.500 -
214.516)

The substitute:

(1)  Repeals the requirement that any court action to grant an
injunction, restraining order, or other order to bring suit
against cemetery operators upon application by the Division of
Professional Registration within the Department of Insurance,
Financial Institutions and Professional Registration must be
commenced in the county in which the illegal actions occurred or
in the county in which the operator resides;

(2)  Requires all contracts sold by cemetery operators for
cemetery services or for graves, cemetery markers, crypts, and
other burial receptacles to meet certain requirements.  If these
requirements are not met, all payments will be recoverable by the
purchaser plus 10% interest and any reasonable collection costs
including attorney fees;

(3)  Requires any person, entity, or political subdivision that
purchases, receives, or holds real estate used for the burial of
human remains, excluding a family burial ground, to notify the
Office of Endowed Care Cemeteries within the department of the
name, location, and address of the real estate before October 1,
2010, or within 30 days of acquiring the land;

(4)  Exempts cemetery operators from the provisions of
Chapter 436 regarding prearranged funeral contracts for the sale
of cemetery services or for graves, cemetery markers, crypts, and
other burial receptacles but prohibits them from adjusting or
establishing prices for items with the intent of evading the
trust or escrow provisions of the chapter.  Provisions related to
deposits into endowed care trust funds based on the sales price
of certain products are revised;

(5)  Removes the provisions requiring a financial institution
serving as the trustee of an endowed care trust to be located in
Missouri but requires all activities of the trust to be
controlled by Missouri law and all funds held in trust to remain
in Missouri;

(6)  Requires a cemetery operator to notify the division in
writing at least 30 days prior to selling a majority of the
business assets of a cemetery or a majority of its stock;

(7)  Allows, for agreements entered into after August 28, 2010, a
cemetery prearranged merchandise products contract to be canceled
within 30 days of receipt of the executed contract and requires
all payments to be fully refunded;

(8)  Allows the division to direct a trustee, financial
institution, or escrow agent to suspend the distribution of money
from an endowed care trust fund if the cemetery operator is not
licensed, has failed to file an annual report, or has failed to
file a corrective action plan after an audit has revealed a
deficiency; and

(9)  Exempts, if a cemetery was owned by a city, any subsequent
cemetery owner from liability for any deficiency existing prior
to the city's ownership.

LICENSURE OF PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS (Sections 324.1102 - 324.1136)

The substitute:

(1)  Requires each member of the Board of Private Investigators
Examiners within the division to be a resident of the state for
at least one year prior to his or her appointment and to be a
registered voter;

(2)  Increases, from two to five years, the term of a board
member and allows him or her to serve consecutive terms;

(3)  Repeals conflicting statutes created by the passage of House
Bill 780 and Senate Bill 308 in 2007 regarding the board;

(4)  Requires the division to employ board personnel, exercise
all administrative functions, and deposit all fees collected into
the Board of Private Investigators Examiners Fund;

(5)  Removes the exemption for licensure as a private
investigator if an employer-employee relationship exists;

(6)  Clarifies the exemption for licensure as a private
investigator for employees of profit and non-profit agencies
making employee background checks;

(7)  Clarifies the exemption for licensure as a private
investigator if the person is exclusively employed by or under an
exclusive contract with a state agency or political subdivision;

(8)  Clarifies the exemption for licensure as a private
investigator when legal process servers are conducting
process-serving activities;

(9)  Requires the board, instead of the department, to be
responsible for the review of applicants;

(10)  Specifies that an applicant can be denied a license if he
or she has received a suspended imposition of sentence following
a guilty plea to a misdemeanor offense involving moral turpitude
or been refused a license or had a license revoked or denied in
the state or any other state;

(11)  Removes a provision regarding the licensure fee for an
individual, an agency, or an employee of an agency and for
licenses issued for less than a year;

(12)  Specifies the procedures for renewing a license;

(13)  Allows the board to establish all fees;

(14)  Requires a licensee to maintain records containing
information relative to his or her employees and copies of
contracts or court orders regarding the destruction, sealing, or
return of certain records; and

(15)  Allows the board to issue a license to a private
investigator trainer.

ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, LAND SURVEYORS, AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
(Sections 327.031, 327.351, and 327.411)

The substitute:

(1)  Increases the membership of the Missouri Board for
Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors
and Landscape Architects from 14 to 15 by adding one more
professional engineer;

(2)  Allows a landscape architect to serve as the chairperson of
the board;

(3)  Gives all rights, powers, and duties available to the
members of the architectural and professional engineering
divisions of the board to the members of the professional land
surveying and landscape architectural divisions of the board;

(4)  Allows certain faculty members of accredited schools of
landscape architecture to serve on the board;

(5)  Establishes a sequential rotation for the appointment of a
chairperson to the board;

(6)  Limits a chairperson to one, four-year term;

(7)  Authorizes the President of the Missouri Association of
Landscape Architects to fill a board vacancy as other state
associations are allowed to do;

(8)  Allows a person holding an inactive license as a
professional land surveyor to use that title or the initials
"PLS" after his or her name; and

(9)  Requires a licensee to prepare or personally supervise the
preparation of all documents containing his or her personal seal
and to only seal documents in areas in which he or she is
qualified by education, training, and experience in the specific
technical areas involved.

EXPANDED-FUNCTIONS PERMITS FOR CERTAIN DENTAL ASSISTANTS AND
DENTAL HYGIENISTS (Sections 332.011 and 332.098)

All dental assistants and dental hygienists must obtain a permit
from the Missouri Dental Board within the department in order to
perform expanded-functions duties.  "Expanded-functions duties"
are defined as reversible acts that would be considered the
practice of dentistry that the board specifies by rule may be
delegated to a dental assistant or dental hygienist who possesses
an expanded-functions permit.

Nothing in the substitute will be construed as making it unlawful
for a licensed dentist to perform any dental services that would
be considered expanded-functions duties or for dental assistants,
certified dental assistants, or expanded-functions dental
assistants to polish teeth.  The board is prohibited from
establishing any rule allowing the delegation of acts to a dental
assistant which would conflict with the practice of dental
hygiene.  Expanded-functions permits must be renewed every five
years, and the board is authorized to establish rules regarding
the issuance and renewal of the permits.

ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSES (Sections 334.506 and
334.613)

An advanced practice registered nurse is added to the list of
approved health care providers who are authorized to write a
prescription to refer a patient to a physical therapist.

SUPERVISION REQUIREMENTS FOR PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS (Section
334.735)

The State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts within the
department is prohibited from requiring additional supervision
requirements for a physician and physician assistant team prior
to granting a supervision waiver to work in a rural health clinic
as defined by the federal Rural Health Clinic Services Act if the
minimum federal standards are met.

A physician assistant must be in a collaborative agreement with a
supervising physician prior to prescribing or dispensing any
drug, medicine, therapy, or device allowed by current law.

LICENSURE OF NURSES (Section 335.081 and Section 1)

The substitute exempts a person from licensure as a nurse in
Missouri if he or she holds an out-of-state license and is
transporting a patient into, out of, or through the state and the
transport does not exceed 48 hours.

An employer of nurses is required to have a system in place for
verifying that the applicant for a position as a registered,
licensed practical, or advanced practice registered nurse has a
current valid license and to verify the licensure status at the
time of the nurse's license renewal.

COMPLAINTS AGAINST CERTAIN LICENSED PROFESSIONALS (Section
337.528)

The State Committee for Professional Counselors within the
department is allowed to remove unsubstantiated complaints made
against licensed professional counselors by offenders who are in
the custody of the Department of Corrections or who have been
ordered into custody, detained, or held by the Department of
Mental Health as sexually violent predators.  Upon the written
request of a licensed professional counselor subject to a
complaint prior to August 28, 2010, by these offenders that did
not result in disciplinary action, the committee and the Division
of Professional Registration within the Department of Insurance,
Financial Institutions and Professional Registration must destroy
all documentation regarding the complaint, notify any other
licensing board that was previously notified of the complaint of
its actions, and send a letter to the licensee clearly stating
that the complaint was unsubstantiated.

LICENSURE OF SOCIAL WORKERS (Sections 337.600, 337.615, 337.618,
and 337.643)

The substitute:

(1)  Revises the definition of "master social work" to limit the
supervision required of those in the practice of master social
work to no more than 48 consecutive months for licensing
purposes;

(2)  Repeals the provisional license for clinical social workers;
and

(3)  Revises the definition of "qualified advanced macro
supervisor," "qualified baccalaureate supervisor," and "qualified
clinical supervisor" to be a licensed social worker who has
supervised in the field of social work for at least five years.
Currently, supervision is required for at least five
uninterrupted years.

MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPISTS (Sections 337.700, 337,703,
337.705, 337.706, 337.715, and 337.718)

The State Committee for Marital and Family Therapists within the
department is authorized to issue a provisional license to a
person who is a graduate of a specified acceptable higher
education institution with at least a master's degree in marital
and family therapy, or its equivalent, and meets all requirements
of a licensed marital and family therapist other than the
specified required supervised clinical experience if he or she is
supervised by a qualified person as defined by rule of the
Division of Professional Registration.

Any official, employee, board, commission, or agency of the state
and any county, municipality, school district, or other political
subdivision of the state is prohibited from discriminating
between persons licensed as marital and family therapists when
establishing rules or when requiring or recommending services
that legally may be performed by these therapists.

LICENSURE OF WHOLESALE DRUG DISTRIBUTORS (Sections 338.333 and
338.335)

Certain wholesale drug distributors who distribute drug-related
devices in this state are exempted from obtaining a license for
out-of-state distribution sites from the State Board of Pharmacy
within the department if a licensed Missouri wholesale drug
distributor is responsible for all shipments received from the
out-of-state distribution sites.

REAL ESTATE BROKERS (Sections 339.010 and 339.845)

The substitute changes the laws regarding the regulation of real
estate brokers and salespersons to include limited partnerships,
limited liability companies, and professional corporations and
specifies that "real estate broker" will include these types of
companies and "real estate salesperson" will include any person,
partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company,
association, professional corporation, or domestic or foreign
corporation who has a valid real estate broker license and
receives compensation from a real estate broker.  A real estate
broker-salesperson may not also operate as a real estate broker.

The Missouri Real Estate Commission within the department is
required upon receiving notice from the Department of Revenue
that a licensee is delinquent in paying his or her taxes to
immediately send a copy of the notice to the broker with which
the licensee is associated.

RESIDENTIAL CARE FACILITIES (Section 344.020)

The Missouri Board of Nursing Home Administrators within the
Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional
Registration is authorized to issue a separate license to the
administrator of a residential care facility which was licensed
as a residential care facility II on or before August 27, 2006,
if it continues to meet all licensure standards for a residential
care facility II in effect as of that date.

Anyone licensed to operate a residential care facility will not
be considered authorized to operate any intermediate care or
skilled nursing facility.

DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS AGAINST CERTAIN HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS
(Sections 383.130 and 383.133)

Home health agencies, nursing homes or facilities, or certain
entities employing or contracting with licensed health care
professionals are added to the list of health care providers that
must report to the appropriate health care professional licensing
authority any disciplinary action against any health care
professional or the voluntary resignation of any professional
against whom any complaints or reports have been made which might
have led to disciplinary action.

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on General Revenue Fund in FY 2011, FY
2012, and FY 2013.  Estimated Income on Other State Funds of $0
in FY 2011, $50,460 in FY 2012, and $1,851 in FY 2013.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that operators of residential care
facilities currently must have a nursing home administrators
license.  The bill allows for a separate license to only operate
a residential care facility.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Wasson; Missouri
Assisted Living Association; and Missouri Association of Homes
for the Aging.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:13 pm