Tennessee § 62-5-312 - Registration as an apprentice.

§ 62-5-312. Registration as an apprentice.

When beginning the required apprenticeship, the person shall file an apprentice registration form with the board and shall pay a fee in the amount to be established by the board. The registration shall be valid for a period of three (3) years from the date of registration, or until the registrant has completed the apprenticeship requirements, whichever occurs first. The apprentice registration form shall contain the name of the registrant, showing that the registrant: 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; Has graduated from a high school or has earned a GED(R) recognized by a state education department; and Is a bona fide paid employee of an establishment working no less than forty (40) hours per week in the presence of and under the direction and supervision of a licensed funeral director or embalmer. All persons who are apprentice funeral directors, apprentice embalmers and mortuary school students registered by the board and who are in the process of fulfilling their apprenticeship and educational requirements on or before December 31, 2007, shall not be required to complete the apprenticeship requirements that become effective on January 1, 2008. The apprentices and mortuary school students shall complete all requirements to become licensed by the board as a funeral director or embalmer on or before June 30, 2011. When beginning the required course of study, the person shall file a student registration form with the board and shall pay a fee in the amount to be established by the board. The registration shall be valid for a period of three (3) years from the date of registration, or until the registrant has completed the apprenticeship requirements, whichever occurs first. Acts 2007, ch. 297, § 4; 2012, ch. 738, § 1; 2018, ch. 651, §§ 1, 2; 2020, ch. 625, § 3. Code Commission Notes. Former § 62-5-312 (Acts 1951, ch. 13, § 19 (Williams, § 7140.19); T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 62-519), concerning apprenticeship of persons in armed forces, was deleted as obsolete in 1990. Compiler's Notes. Acts 2018, ch. 651, § 3 provided that the act, which amended this section, shall apply to all persons who register with the board as an apprentice funeral director, apprentice embalmer, or mortuary school student on and after April 9, 2018. 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 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).