Oklahoma Funeral Board, 10/23/2012 v.1 no.3

              will work on a continuing
open dialogue to address the
issues. We have already
heard some great ideas and
we look forward to more.
When considering this topic,
keep these facts in mind:
Currently we have 1,069
licensed funeral directors in
the State, Ten years ago we
had 1,185. Today the aver-age
age of a licensee is 52
years old, and by 2024 Okla-homa
is projected to have
approximately 41,000
deaths, annually up from
approximately 35,000 now.
Please join in addressing this
proactively by offering con-structive
solutions now
rather than trying to catch up
later.
-Mark Riley
The legislature is not in ses-sion,
but at the Funeral
Board Office legislative
ideas are in full swing. As
many of you know, over the
past two years the Funeral
Board has tried to address
the concerns of many Fu-neral
Home owners across
the State. When we talk to
these owners and funeral
directors in charge the num-ber
one question is, “Where
can I find more help?” The
Funeral Board members un-derstand
these challenges.
They are having them too!
This is why the Board has
developed a committee to
study the needs of the indus-try
and address these needs
with the legislature. Each
month the committee ad-dresses
the Board with a
report. Reports are compiled
for the Board to consider for
the upcoming legislative
cycle. You, as owners, em-ployees,
or future licensees,
have an important voice. As
the Board desires to address
the problems with realistic
solutions, please feel free to
share your thoughts in writ-ing
to the Board office. In
the upcoming year, the Fu-neral
Board, along with the
State Funeral Associations
We currently have some of the
highest requirements for licensure
in the country. This committee
does find fault with this licensing
process and it has had a secondary
effect on a larger problem that is
affecting the Funeral Homes in
Okla. today. This problem has
been compounded by the passing
of several state statutes that re-quire
removals of descendents,
Funeral service, and grave com-pletion
to be made by a licensed
Director. It has become increas-ingly
difficult for the Funeral
Homes in Okla. to keep up with
our community’s needs. This is
causing an ever widening gap
between our states need and our
industries ability to serve those
needs. The state has never found
it necessary to do away with
legal aids, physician’s assis-tants,
or nurses aids knowing
this would cripple the capability
of each specific industry’s abil-ity
to keep up with its service
needs. Right now the funeral
industry in Okla. is crippled. It
is this committee’s finding that
this is a serious and immediate
concern to the funeral industry
and more importantly the people
of Oklahoma. It is the commit-tee’s
recommendation that the
Board introduce a new state
license for a certified Funeral
Director Assistant, with details
to be worked out with the
Board.
What will Oklahoma’s
landscape look like?
F r o m t h e D i r e c t o r
S p e c i a l p o i n t s
o f i n t e r e s t :
 One or more
hours of CE
can be at-tained
by at-tending
a Fu-neral
Board
meeting. The
next meeting
will be…..
November 8,
2012, at 10
AM in the
Oklahoma
State Capitol
Room 412A
S p e c i a l
I n f o r m a t i o n
C o m m i t t e e U p d a t e
Volume 1 Issue 3 October 23,2012
How many hours
of CE do I need?
A total of 6, 1 of
those hours needs
to be in person & 1
will need to be
over ethics.
Mr. J. Cooper of
Tecumseh was
recently appointed
to the Oklahoma
Funeral Board by
Gov. Fallin. He
will serve on the
Board until July,
2017.
info@okfuneral.com