A. No person shall dispose of the body of any deceased person by cremation or other similar means, within this state, without first having obtained from the Oklahoma Funeral Board an annual license to operate a crematory.
B. Application for an annual license shall be made to the executive director of the Board upon forms prescribed and furnished by the executive director, shall give the location of the crematory, and any other information as the executive director shall require, and shall be accompanied by the crematory license fee pursuant to Section 396.4 of this title. A crematory shall not be licensed separately from a funeral or commercial embalming establishment but shall be licensed in conjunction with and operated by a funeral service or commercial embalming establishment. Annual licenses shall expire on December 31 each year, shall specify the name or names of the owners of the crematory and the location thereof, the funeral director in charge, and shall not be transferable either as to the ownership of the crematory, the funeral director in charge or as to the location thereof. The first annual license issued for any crematory at any location shall not be issued by the executive director until the executive director has been satisfied:
1. That the crematory is, or will be, so constructed as to be capable of reducing the body of a deceased person to a residue which shall not weigh more than five percent (5%) of the weight of the body immediately after death; and
2. That the crematory has at least one operable crematory for cremation.
The requirement of paragraph 1 of this subsection may, but need not, be waived by the executive director for any subsequent annual license issued for the same crematory.
C. All funeral establishments performing cremations shall have a licensed funeral director in charge.
D. Each funeral establishment performing cremation services shall keep records as required by the Board to assure compliance with all laws relating to the disposition of dead human remains and shall file annually with the Board a report in the form prescribed by the Board describing the operations of the licensee, including the number of cremations performed, the disposition thereof, and any other information that the Board may require by rule.
E. A funeral establishment performing cremation services shall be subject to all local, state, and federal health and environmental requirements and shall obtain all necessary licenses and permits from the Oklahoma Funeral Board, and the appropriate federal and state health and environmental authorities.
F. Crematories licensed by the Board on the effective date of this act shall be exempt from the provisions of subsections C, D and E of this section.
G. All crematories shall be subject to inspection, at all reasonable times, by the Board or its duly authorized agents or employees.
Added by Laws 1963, c. 325, art. 3, § 331, operative July 1, 1963. Amended by Laws 2001, c. 75, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2001; Laws 2003, c. 57, § 25, emerg. eff. April 10, 2003. Renumbered from § 1-331 of Title 63 by Laws 2003, c. 57, § 31, emerg. eff. April 10, 2003. Amended by Laws 2013, c. 97, § 5, eff. Nov. 1, 2013.