Professional development requirements and audits: Funerals and cemeteries

Funeral license renewal requirements

To renew your funeral director, embalmer, and intern licenses you must meet the board policy on professional development and the following requirements:

• Have 5 hours of continuing education (CE) credits each year.
  • The education must include at least 1 hour of OSHA training.
  • AIDS education is no longer required.
  • Qualifying activities become eligible for credit when completed.
  • The board doesn’t preapprove CE activities. You’re responsible to seek out qualifying activities that can be demonstrated as relevant.
• Certify you have completed the required professional development when you renew.
• Keep records of your CE credits. You don’t need to provide them to us unless you’re audited. 

Acceptable continuing education credit (CE) activities

CE activities must:

• Be relevant to the practice of your profession (funeral directing or embalming), and may include technical, ethical, or managerial content.
• Have a clear purpose and objective that will maintain, improve, or expand skills and knowledge relevant to the practice of your profession.

Examples of qualifying activities

1 hour of activity is equal to 1 CE hour. The following activities are examples of acceptable development hours:

• Attendance at a professional development seminar
• Attendance at a Funeral and Cemetery Board meeting
• Attendance at an industry conference
• Publication of a book you wrote related to funeral service
• Completion of books, recordings, or videos that add to the skills and knowledge of the profession

Professional development audits: Funeral directors, embalmers, and interns

The board selects 5–15% of licensees at random each year for audits. If selected for an audit, you'll be asked to submit records of your CE activities for the last license period.

Recordkeeping requirements

You must maintain records of your CE activities for 3 years (the period of your current renewal plus the 2 years before your last renewal). Licensees must have the records available for inspection at their place of employment.

Use the Funeral and Embalmer Professional Development Worksheet or a similar form to record your activities and hours, including all of the following:

• Date of the activity
• Provider's name
• Description of the activity
• Number of professional development hours

You should also keep:

• Receipts and certificates provided by universities, professional organizations, or other course presenters (e.g. signed attendance receipts, payment receipts, certificates of completion, and continuing education credit reports)
• Agendas or schedules (for multi-session events, highlight the sessions you attended)
• Course outlines
• Lecture materials or handouts
• Articles
• Book covers
• Travel receipts
• Expense reports

You may face disciplinary action for failing to complete the CE requirements or falsifying professional development records.

If your professional development is disqualified

The board is the final authority on qualifying activities and professional development credit. If an audit disqualifies the professional development you reported and results in your failure to complete the requirements, the board may require you to make up the CE within a time period they determine.