Tennessee § 62-5-305 - Application for funeral director's license — Apprenticeship.

§ 62-5-305. Application for funeral director's license — Apprenticeship.

Every person not previously licensed in this state as a funeral director, desiring to engage in the practice or business of funeral directing, shall make application to the board, along with a nonrefundable fee as set by the board. The application shall contain the name of the applicant, showing that the applicant: Has attained eighteen (18) years of age; Is a citizen of the United States or an individual enumerated in 8 U.S.C. § 1622(b); Is of good moral character; Is properly protected against communicable diseases, either through immunization or education; Has graduated from a high school or has earned a GED(R) recognized by a state education department; Has successfully completed a program of study in funeral service education consisting of no less than thirty (30) semester hours, forty-five (45) quarter hours or the equivalent from a school accredited by the American Board of Funeral Service Education and evidenced by an official transcript; and Has completed two (2) years of apprenticeship in the presence of and under the direction and supervision of a licensed funeral director. An associate's degree from a college accredited by the American Board of Funeral Service Education may be substituted for one (1) year of apprenticeship. Acts 1951, ch. 13, § 8 (Williams, § 7140.8); Acts 1971, ch. 161, § 2; 1973, ch. 35, § 1; 1980, ch. 554, § 6; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 62-512; Acts 1985, ch. 354, § 7; 1989, ch. 523, § 150; 2001, ch. 188, §§ 5-8; 2007, ch. 297, § 2; 2016, ch. 838, § 9; 2020, ch. 625, § 2. Amendments. The 2020 amendment added “or an individual enumerated in 8 U.S.C. § 1622(b) ” in (b)(2). Effective Dates. Acts 2020, ch. 625, § 4. March 25, 2020. Attorney General Opinions. The practical training and experience required of applicants for a funeral director's license may occur outside the state; provided, that such apprenticeship occurs under the personal supervision and instruction of a funeral director licensed in Tennessee, OAG 03-003, 2003 Tenn. AG LEXIS 2 (1/13/03). The Eligibility Verification for Entitlements Act (EVEA) can be read in harmony with laws requiring licensure applicants to be U.S. citizens or U.S. citizens or resident aliens and therefore did not impliedly repeal those laws. State laws requiring licensure applicants to be U.S. citizens are preempted to the extent they conflict with a federal law that limits States’ authority to determine alien eligibility for state public benefits, including professional and commercial licenses. State laws requiring licensure applicants to be U.S. citizens also violate the Equal Protection Clause because they discriminate based on alienage and would not satisfy strict scrutiny. State laws requiring licensure applicants to be U.S. citizens or resident aliens are preempted to the extent they conflict with a federal law that limits States’ authority to determine alien eligibility for state public benefits, including professional and commercial licenses. Laws requiring licensure applicants to be U.S. citizens or resident aliens do not violate the Equal Protection Clause, however, because they discriminate only against unlawful aliens and lawful aliens who are not permanent residents. Those categories of aliens are not a suspect class, and the laws at issue would likely satisfy rational basis review. The Department of Commerce and Insurance is not required to enforce the requirements that an applicant for licensure, registration, or certification be a “citizen of the United States” or a “citizen of the United States or resident alien.” OAG 18-42, 2018 Tenn. AG LEXIS 42 (9/13/2018).