Board of Mortuary Arts

Agency Newsletter

Last updated: Friday, November 20, 2009

Updated 11-20-2009 My Two Cents Worth is a column from the Desk of KSBMA Executive Secretary Mack Smith.

Updated 11-20-2009 The filing deadline for the January 14, 2010 board meeting is December 15, 2009. All applications, fees, paperwork . . . must be filed with the board's Topeka office by no later than December 15, 2009 in order to be placed on the agenda for the January 14, 2010 board meeting.

Updated 11-20-2009 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Information--

Information regarding Facts for Consumers, Funerals a Consumer Guide is located at: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/services/funeral.shtm

Information regarding Facts for Business, Complying With the Funeral Rule is located at: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/funeral.htm

Staff Opinions:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has made available online its numerous staff advisory opinions regarding interpretations of the Funeral Rule. The opinions date back to 1994 and include the most recent opinions--which are summarized in a listing with links to view and the ability to download the full text of the letters. Topics include a wide range of subjects, including the use of computerized displays of casket prices, charging a fee for refrigeration of bodies, not being able to charge consumers extra for storing a casket that the consumer bought from outside the funeral home, not being able to charge an extra to dispose of the packaging material from the outside casket . . . If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed on your computer, please visit their site to download it--as the following opinions are in pdf format:

Staff Advisory #09-1 Discusses whether funeral providers may offer discount packages conditioned on the purchase of a casket , and whether such packages may discount the basic services fee. Written: February 17, 2009
Staff Advisory #09-2 Confirms that funeral providers must provide accurate price information by telephone to anyone who inquires about offerings or prices, including a business that will use the information for their own profit. Written: March 18, 2009.
Staff Advisory #09-3 Clarifies that Opinion 09-1 is limited to the issues discussed in that opinion.
Staff Advisory #09-4 Discusses the circumstances under which funeral providers should include the overhead cost of the use of a vehicle to obtain death certificates and permits in their basic services fee.
Staff Advisory #09-5 Confirms that cemeteries generally are not covered by the Funeral Rule unless they offer both funeral services and funeral goods.

FTC Funeral Rule Review:

By a vote of 5-0, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved the publication of the Federal Register notice closing the regulatory review of the Trade Regulation Review on Funeral Industry Practices (the Funeral Rule) and retaining the Rule in its current form. For further information, please select the following link: FTC Federal Register Notice on Funeral Rule

UPDATED 11-20-2009 2009 Assistant Funeral Director (AFD) Examination Filing Deadlines and Examination Dates:

Filing Deadlines Examination Dates
(All Wednesdays unless otherwise listed)

November 16, 2009	December 2, 2009
December 15, 2009	January 6, 2010
January 15, 2010	February 3, 2010
February 16, 2010	March 3, 2010
March 15, 2010	Tuesday, April 6, 2010
April 15, 2010	May 5, 2010
May 17, 2010	Tuesday, June 1, 2010
June15, 2010	Tuesday, July 6, 2010
July 15, 2010	August 4, 2010
August 16, 2010	September 1, 2010
September 15, 2010	October 6, 2010
October 15, 2010	November 3, 2010
November 15, 2010	December 1, 2010

All examinations will be administered at the KSBMA office in Topeka at 1:30 p.m. on the dates indicated unless otherwise indicated.

Please note that applications and fees ($200--$150 application fee, $50 examination fee) must be filed with the KSBMA office BY the filing deadline in order to be eligible to be administered the examination the next month. AFD applicants who are serving a funeral director apprenticeship and submit an apprenticeship application with the AFD application will not be administered the AFD examination--as they will be administered the funeral director examination upon completion of apprenticeship. Please feel free to contact our office if you have any questions or if we can be of assistance.

Additional information regarding the assistant funeral director license:

Assistant Funeral Director Application
Assistant Funeral Director Examination Application
Assistant Funeral Director Examination Information
Assistant Funeral Director Licensure Information (information for applicants and supervising funeral directors)

NOTE: Three of the above are pdf documents. If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed on your computer, please visit their site to download it.

Information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD) as it relates to funeral homes, cemeteries and crematory practitioners: That link is: Information on CJD relating to the funeral profession.

National Prearranged Services, Inc., Lincoln Memorial Life and Memorial Service Life Insurance Companies update. The Friday, August 7, 2009 edition of STL.com has posted a story: Funeral homes' CFO arrested for fraud. The August 6, 2009 edition of the Business Wire has posted a story: Reilly Pozner LLP Files Suit: $600 Million National Pre-Need Burial Insurance Fraud. The 130-page complaint can be viewed (in Adobe Reader/pdf format) at: complaint.

Information from the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association regarding 'Known Shipper' compliance changes by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that went into effect on August 1, 2009. Any funeral establishment that ships human remains by air in the United States will not be allowed to ship after August 1, 2009 if it has not registered as a "Known Shipper." Registration can be made with each airline and shippers must register with each and every airline that may be used in the future. Registering with a specific airline does not require you to use that particular airline--but each airline has their own registration format and fees. The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) resource site has information and you can also visit the TSA web sites for Shippers and Inquiries and their Known Shipper Database.

During the Omnibus Session, the Kansas Legislature swept of $52,558 from the Kansas State Board of Mortuary Arts (KSBMA) fee fund and Kansas Savings Incentive Program (KSIP) fund to the State General Fund (SGF) in Senate Substitute for House BIll 2373. The bill is hard to read, but page seven/section 12 addresses the transfer of KSIP funds of $29,834. Page 40, section 47 addresses the transfer of KSBMA fee funds in current fiscal year (FY) 2009 (July 1, 2008--June 30, 2009) of $5,554 and $8,298 and in FY 2010 (July 1, 2009--June 30, 2010) of $8,872. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 21-17 as can be viewed in the Senate Journal of May 5, 2009 on page 812. A motion that would have denied the sweeping of fee funds was rejected by the Senate and can be viewed starting on page 811 of that same journal. Two days later, the House concurred with the Senate by a vote of 64-60, which can be viewed on page 713 of the House Journal on May 7, 2009. These links require Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to view. The KSBMA wrote Governor Parkinson and requested a line item veto of these fee sweeps. With the current economic situation, the KSBMA wants to be a team player with all budget cuts. The objection is to the sweeping of special revenue fee funds to the state's general fund to pay for other state expenses. Attorney General Opinion 2002-45 addresses this issue. The Governor approved this bill on May 22, 2009. The KSBMA funds previously mentioned were swept to the SGF. These sweeps were in addition to cuts of an additional $3,947 in FY 2009, $6,146 in FY 2010 and $24,382 which were made from original agency requests totaling $76,940 over three fiscal years. $24,382 of these funds will remain in the agency's fee fund for future use--as approved by the Legislature and Governor. Increases for FY 2011 can be requested in the upcoming legislative session as agency budgets for FY 2010 and FY 2011 are identical as they currently stand.

A very nice photograph and article on page B-1 of the Sunday, June 7, 2009, Topeka Capital-Journal newspaper, titled: "The Irish Fight Back" regarding the Chapman, Kansas tornado of June 11, 2008 and the rebuilding of the funeral home/town of Chapman featuring Kay and Jon Londeen. The web site article can be found here.

There is a good article "Regulatory Compliance in Funeral Service Settings" written by Richard L. Best on pages 32-37 in the May 2009 edition of The Director magazine that provides information on OSHA Standards within funeral homes.

An article in the Wednesday, April 1, 2009 edition of the Washington Post, titled: Funeral Business Feeling Six Feet Under. The April 20, 2009 edition of the Funeral Service Insider (FSI) has published an article, titled: NFDA Lashes Out at Washington Post After News Conference Goes Awry . NFDA President John Reed issued an official statement regarding the Washington Post article on their web site.

The KSBMA Wrap Up Summary from the 2009 Kansas Legislature

The 2009-2010 Kansas Legislature convened on Monday, January 12, 2009 and adjourned following Sine Die on Thursday, June 4, 2009. The Legislative Session is for two years, 2009 and 2010. Some bills effecting funeral service, the KSBMA or related entities, include:

Senate Bill 87 A bill that would make changes to the Kansas Administrative Procedure Act (KAPA) involving disclosure of certain records, administrative procedure and judicial review. How licensure agencies, such as the KSBMA, prosecute cases. The bill was amended and passed the Senate, 39-1. The House Judiciary Committee amended the bill, and it passed the House as amended, 125-0. On 3/25/09 the bill went to conference committee. 4/1/09 the House adopted the Conference Committee Report, 124-0. 4/2/09-The Senate adopted the conference committee report, 39-0. The bill was approved by Governor Sebelius on April 20, 2009 and will become law upon publication in the statute book, July 1, 2009.

Senate Bill 320 A bill that would make changes to the Funeral Assistance Program (FAP) of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS)--decreasing the maximum amount from $680 to $545 per case. That amount along with related information is currently defined in KAR 30-4-98. The bill was referred to the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

House Bill 2109 A bill that would enact the Kansas Uniform Health Care Decisions Act and amend KSA 65-1734 involving the durable power of attorney for health care decisions. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

House Bill 2201 A bill concerning conditions on professional licenses if delinquent in child support. The bill was amended and passed the House, 114-5, and passed the Senate, 40-0-and was approved by the Governor on 4/6/09 and will become law upon publication in the Kansas Register.

House Bill 2332 A bill concerning crimes, punishment and criminal prosecution, including KSA 16-305 and KSA 21-4111. The House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee held a hearing on February 25-26, 2009, amended the bill and recommended passage of the bill as amended.

The SRS Funeral Assistance Program (FAP) Effective July 1, 2009, SRS will decrease the maximum benefit paid from $680.00 to $550.00. During the Omnibus/Veto Session, the legislature cut an additional 2.7% from state budgets. SRS indicated that they will have to seek supplemental funding in the 2010 legislative session to have enough money to fund the program for FY 2010 which runs July 1, 2009 until June 30, 2010 due to budget cuts amounting to $290,000.

Some of the above files are pdf documents. If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed on your computer, please visit their site to download it.

To see the full text of the bills, simply click on the bill numbers provided above. To view the legislative history of any bill, please select Kansas Legislature and go down to the bottom right side of the Legislative website and enter the bill number under Track a Bill.

Some previous legislation affecting the KSBMA can be found on the Legislative Page of this website.

The Funeral Consumers Alliance has a document available on-line on their web site under the section titled Frequently Asked Questions/Documents Recycle Your Medical Devices that could prove helpful. Items discussed in the brochure include hearing aids, pacemakers and insulin pumps.

Statistics from the International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards (ICFSEB) for the NBE (National Board Examination) for the time frame of January 1, 2008--December 31, 2008 as provided by the ICFSEB, are as follows:

Arts (NBA): Total Tested Pass # Pass % Fail # Fail % Absent # Absent % Total Number

First Time 1,442 1,163 80.3% 259 17.9% 26 1.8% 1,448

Repeater 324 123 36.2% 201 59.1% 16 4.7% 340

Total 1,746 1,186 71.9% 460 25.7% 42 2.3% 1,788

Science (NBS): Total Tested Pass # Pass % Fail # Fail % Absent # Absent % Total Number

First Time 1,415 1,146 79.8% 269 18.7% 21 1.5% 1,436

Repeater 363 144 38.2% 219 58.1% 14 3.7% 377

Total 1,778 1,290 71.2% 488 26.9% 35 1.9% 1,813

Additional Statistics

2009 Price Increases:

Item                                                                                                Previous Price      New Price
SBE Study Guide                                                                           $20.00                  $30.00
NBE Study Guide                                                                           $26.00                  $40.00
Practice National Board Examination Arts Section                   $30.00                  $45.00
Practice National Board Examination Science Section            $30.00                  $45.00

The States of Alabama and Hawaii will be switching to computer based testing (CBT) starting in January of 2009.

For additional information, please go to the new and improved web site for the International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards: http://www.theconferenceonline.org/ ICFSEB's Fall 2008 Report Past ICFSEB Newsletters

The International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards (ICFSEB), 1885 Shelby Lane, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72704

Phone: (479) 442-7076 Fax: (479) 442-7090 E-mail: info@theconferenceonline.org

In case you haven't noticed, we've added a Search Engine to our web site on our main page.

See page seven (7) of the Public Assistance Report of SRS for some statistics on the FY 2008-09 Funeral Assistance Program.

The 2007 Annual Summary of Vital Statistics is now available:

The 2007 Annual Summary of Vital Statistics can be found at 2007 Annual Summary of Vital Statistics
Some 2007 Kansas death data: 24,413 resident deaths--which is a decrease of 0.3% from 2006. The Kansas death rate was 8.8 deaths per 1,000 population. 333 infant deaths were recorded. Information pertaining to: 2007 deaths in the State of Kansas.
Our thanks to KDHE/OVS for providing this information.

Statistics from previous years (1998-2007) can be found at The Kansas Annual Summary of Vital Statistics

The KDHE/OVS web site is located at Office of Vital Statistics

UPDATED 11-20-2009 Renewal Dates for licensees of the Kansas State Board of Mortuary Arts (KSBMA.)

"Frontline: The Undertaking", the PBS Frontline documentary on funeral service as seen through the eyes of Lynch and Sons Funeral Directors out of Michigan has won a 2008 Emmy Award in the Outstanding Arts and Culture Programming category. Winners were announced on September 22, 2008. In case you missed the airing of Frontline: The Undertaking, just click on the link. It aired on October 30, 2007 on PBS. Simply click on the first box to begin watching the show at no cost. A DVD of the show can be purchased from the PBS Shop or through the NFDA. You will need Adobe Acrobat Flash Player 9 or better to view the program.

The November 2008 issue of Mortuary Management contains an excellent article on pages 14-15 written by Ron Hast in his Just Conversation column discussing: Care and Transfer of the Deceased: Abbreviated Standards for response to first calls and transfers from home or institutions (per request) taken from the requirements of Abbott and Hast Company staff procedures.

Page eight (8) of Postal Bulletin 22242 (9-25-2008) contains information from Publication 52 Revision: New Option for Mailing Cremated Human Remains. The United States Postal Service (USPS) announced that it no longer requires a return receipt and allows cremated remains to be shipped via registered mail. Verification of the date and time of delivery for both Registered Mail and Express Mail service is now available online or by telephone--which has allowed the elimination of receipt service. The third and fourth sentence of 452.2 have been revised to state: " . . . Mail pieces sent to domestic addresses may be sent via Express Mail or Registered Mail service. Mail pieces sent to an International address must be sent via Registered Mail service, and the country listing in the IMN must show that cremated remains are permitted and Registered Mail service must be available for that country . . ." Those revisions will be incorporated into the next Publication 52 available via Postal Explorer. This information comes from Mailing Standards Pricing, 9-25-08.

Information regarding rehabilitation of Memorial Service/Lincoln Memorial Life Insurance Companies/National Prearranged Funeral Services which includes Legal Documents relating to the rehabilitation. Additional information can be found on the web site of the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), including a Resource Page and news/press releases of August 13, 2008 and July 22, 2008.

KPERS Death Benefit Information This is the updated version of informational page provided by the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS.) NOTE: This is a pdf document. If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed on your computer, please visit their site to download it. This flyer first came out in November of 2007 and was updated in May 2008.

Updated information should you need to contact the Estate Recovery Unit of the Kansas Health Policy Authority. They have contracted out work involving estate recovery to a private contractor:

Health Management Systems (HMS). Funeral home inquiries to HMS should be directed to 1-800-817-8617 or 785-380-4331. Faxes can be sent to 785-215-6629 and can be directed to Ms. Angela Fernandez. Apparently the fax number also rolls over to email.

If you are unable to reach HMS, then inquiries can be made to: Darlene Murray, Estate Recovery Unit/Legal, Kansas Health Policy Authority (KHPA), PO Box 2428, Topeka, Kansas 66601, telephone: (785) 296-0532, fax: (785) 296-8825, email: darlene.murray@khpa.ks.gov

Please contact HMS first BEFORE contacting the KHPA.

A new/updated KSBMA rule book is now available on this web site. This updated version of the rule book contains all laws as of July 1, 2008. Some of the above files are in pdf format. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed on your computer, please visit their site to download it.

"Race and Ancestry Reporting, Revised Death Certificate, 2005-2006, Kansas." Based on an article that appeared on page four of the May 2008 Kansas Health Statistics Report, the Office of Health Assessment has issued a report exploring the impacts of new race and ancestry reporting on the Kansas death certificate implemented in 2005. The report evaluates the possible extent of under-reporting of race on Kansas death certificates, uses two alternated methods for categorizing race, and compares the effect of the resulting age-adjusted mortality rates on health disparity in Kansas. A link to all research summaries from the Center can be found at:: http://www.kdheks.gov/ches/research.html. Select the Race and Ancestry Reporting, Revised Death Certificate, 2005 - 2006, Kansas link for a copy of the report which is in pdf/Adobe Acrobat Reader format. If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed on your computer, please visit their site to download it.

The USA Today published an article on Cremation Industry Awaits Tougher Controls in their Monday, April 21, 2008 issue.

The Mid-Continent Eye Bank has changed their name as of March 1, 2008 to the Kansas Eye Bank and Cornea Research Center. If you have any questions, please contact: Kimber Kaiser, RN, BSN, Hospital Development Coordinator at (316) 260-8220.
Kansas Eye Bank and Cornea Research Center

Robin Wolfe, Registration Chief, Office of Vital Statistics, has received some encouraging preliminary statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics (Feds) on Kansas 2007 death data. Preliminary numbers for the Time of Death issue on death certificates has shown a dramatic drop, from 48.89% to 26.92%! Potentially, at the current rate of collecting/reporting the Time of Death, Kansas would be in the 5-6% range at the end of 2008. Robin sends her appreciation and hopes Kansas funeral homes will keep up the good work!

The February 2008 edition of The Director magazine of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) has a very good article, titled "Every Embalmer's Nightmare" that is (in my opinion) a must read for all embalmers. The article is written by Scott Gilligan, NFDA General Council and includes an example of an Embalming Authorization form. The article includes some good information, including the importance of the use of documentation in the embalming process in the form of embalming reports. NFDA members can access a sample embalming report on the NFDA's FaxBack system.

The regulation governing the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) Funeral Assistance Program was amended effective January 1, 2008. These are the same changes that went into effect July 1, 2007--with no changes. KAR 30-4-98 Effective July 1, 2009, SRS has decreased the maximum benefit paid from $680.00 to $550.00

KPERS Death Benefit Information

The Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) is in the process of providing an information page regarding the $4,000 lump sum death benefit that can be used to pay for funeral expenses. For more information, please check the KPERS web site:
http://www.kpers.org/deathretired.htm

Veterans' Funeral & Burial Benefits--Information is available at the web site of the Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA): http://www.funerals.org/faq/vet.htm

Cross Connection and Backflow Prevention Information

The issue of cross connection and backflow prevention came up recently when a Kansas funeral home was required to make some plumbing adjustments in their embalming/preparation room after being inspected by a representative from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), Division of Environmental Field Services. While the KDHE does not have specific regulations or statutes which pertain to protection of the public water supply from backflow/backsiphonage from a funeral home, Kansas does have broad regulations and statutes concerning the protection of public water supply, including:

KAR 28-15-18. See section (f).
To access all Kansas regulations, please select: Kansas Regulations and type in the regulation number (example: 28-15-18, then scroll down to section (f).)

KSA 65-163a, KSA 65-171g
To access all Kansas statutes, please select: Kansas Statutes and type in the statute number (example: 65-171g)

Additional information can be found under the KDHE's Bureau of Water and Engineering and Permits Unit where you will find information on the KDHE's minimum design standards entitled "Policies, General Considerations, and Design Requirements for Public Water Supply Systems in Kansas," 1995 edition.

Information and related statutes pertaining to Unclaimed Bodies can be found in an article written by Brian Vazquez titled "Kansas Dead Body Law." Brian is the Administrator of the Estate Recovery Unit of the Division of Health Policy and Finance (HPF.) The article was originally written for internal use by SRS field staff. Thank you for sharing, Brian.

Newspaper Obituary Costs

Funeral Homes--Please be sure to let families know up front what newspapers are charging for publishing obituaries. If possible, it would be nice to be able to tell families up front/prior to publication what the cost to publish an obituary will be. I received an email from an individual who was informed, after the fact, of a charge for publishing a large obituary that was much more expensive than they had imagined. If the family would have known up front what the charge was going to be, then they could have made a decision to either exclude some information or perhaps not to have run the obituary at all. One Kansas funeral home uses a computer generated form for preparing obituaries. After struggling with the confusion of which newspapers charge vs. those that do not charge, the funeral home added the following in large font and bold letters for their families not wanting to spend money for a newspaper obituary:

Please Publish This Obituary In the Format In Which Your Newsletter Offers Free Of Charge!

If anyone has any other suggestions or methods currently being used regarding the ability to inform families of newspaper obituary costs, please let us know--so we can share with everyone. Thank you for your assistance and willingness to contribute!

Information regarding the Flag of the United States of America:

For information on the Flag of the United States of America, you can view information at the web site of the American Legion. Their web site discusses the flag, the flag code and folding the flag. Additional information can also be found at the Flag.

A web site listing information for Kansas newspapers can be found at USNPL.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) offers a useful Business Pandemic Influenza Planning Checklist with some related materials at:
http://www.cdc.gov/business

To view two generic forms dealing with KAR 63-7-2 and Crematory Recordkeeping, please click here .

Information on the Willed Body Program at the University of Kansas Medical Center regarding Bequeathing A Body NOTE: (This is a pdf document. If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed on your computer, please visit their site to download it.

The current address for the Estate Recovery Unit is:

Estate Recovery Unit (ERU)

Division of Health Policy and Finance (HPF)
P.O. Box 2428
Topeka, Kansas 66601

The telephone number for estate recovery inquiries is: (785) 296-3349
Fax: (785) 296-8017

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Information

Kansas does not have a state OSHA Approved Program Plan. The telephone number to the Federal OSHA Regional Office (for Kansas) is: (816) 426-5861. For information pertaining to OSHA, please click here for the U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA web site. The OSHA Site Index located at the top of their home page contains a lot of information that could prove helpful to licensees. For a full text of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, please click here. For the National Funeral Directors Association's (NFDA) Summary Page, please click here.

For information pertaining to Licensees In the Military Service, please select here. Senate Bill 254, which was passed by the 2005 Kansas Legislature and approved by Governor Sebelius, became law as of April 21, 2005 (the date of publication in the Kansas Register.) The bill addresses continuing education.

For a roster of all Kansas Funeral Homes and Crematories With Refrigeration, click here. The list contains all licensed Kansas funeral homes and crematories with on-site refrigeration units, their address and their maximum storing capacity. We continue to update this list, so please let us know if you are aware of any changes, additions, deletions or corrections needing to be made.

If you are a licensee and you need to inform the Board of an address change, there are two ways to do so:

1) To send us updated information via email, click on the following link:
       http://www.accesskansas.org/ksbma/changeofaddress.html
       Simply complete the information and click on the Submit Change of Address button at the bottom of the form, or

2) If you wish to mail or fax us the information, click on the following link:
       http://www.accesskansas.org/ksbma/pdf/changeofaddress.pdf
       Simply print off the information and either mail or fax it to us.
       This application is in .pdf/Adobe Reader format.

For a list of where records are being kept for closed funeral homes, please select Closed Funeral Home Record Search will allow you to see where records of funeral homes no longer in business have been transferred to. If you are aware of any additions or corrections to this list, please contact us at boma1@ksbma.ks.gov so we can make the appropriate changes.

Information regarding the Social Security Death Benefit of $255.00 can be located at: http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/deathbenefits.htm

Information is titled: "Survivors: What To Do When A Beneficiary Dies."

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has implemented a procedure affecting those passengers attempting to transport a crematory container on airplanes as carry-on baggage. To view, please refer to the TSA Travel Tips website at: http://www.tsatraveltips.us. Go to the "Air Travel" section and refer to the "Transporting Special Items" portion - or you can call the TSA Call Center at (866) 289-9973. It may be necessary to reload this web site as it doesn't always open on the first attempt. To get to the direct link to the TSA section on Transporting the Deceased (Crematory Containers), please click here. You will need to scroll down the center section in order to view information titled: "Transporting the Deceased." Transporting Cremation Remains For information regarding traveling with caskets/coffins, the TSA recommends that you check with the individual carriers to determine their policies and procedures.

Web Site Updates: "Funeral Homes with Open Positions" and the "Individuals Looking for Employment" are located under "Job Search." A copy of the Tentative Agenda for the upcoming board meeting can be found on the Agency Information portion of this web site or you can select the following: Board Meeting Tentative Agenda. The current version of the Funeral Home Inspector's Report and Board Meeting Minutes can be located under the section titled: Agency Information. Select the following for the current continuing education list and the list of Approved Correspondence/Home Study Programs. Select the following for the most recent information on License Listings", including individual licensees and the city directory of funeral homes.

We are always in the process of upgrading and changing our web site. Do you have any suggestions for our web site? If so, please forward them to us for consideration. We are always looking to provide additional information for consumers and licensees. Corrections are always appreciated!

Legal Next-of-Kin - Our main page, under "What's New", contains a link to K.S.A. 65-1734, which lists the order of priority of persons authorized to dispose of decedents' remains.

Private Burying Grounds - Our main page, under "What's New," now also includes a copy of K.S.A. 17-1305 which addresses private burying grounds; control by the county clerk; actions for damages.

KPERS Death Benefit - FAQ's (frequently asked questions) pertaining to the KPERS Death Benefit can be found at the KPERS web site (kpers.org), under Frequently Asked Questions-Death Benefits: KPERS Death Benefit Information for Retired Members . For information pertaining to the KPERS Death Benefit and Funeral Establishments: http://www.kpers.org/funeralhomepolicy.doc.

Please note the link on our main page under "What's New" to our Memorial Planning Guide. This guide is generic in nature and can be used by all consumers to begin to prearrange their funeral arrangements. NOTE: (This is a pdf document. If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed on your computer, please visit their site to download it.)

Informational brochures ("Facts About Funerals" and "Pre-Arranging Your Funeral Arrangements") are available at no cost through our office and can be located on this web site on our main web page by selecting Facts about Funerals or Pre-planning Your Funeral Arrangements.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact Administrative Specialist Mary Kirkham, Funeral Home/Crematory Inspector Francis Mills or myself anytime we can provide information, answer questions or be of assistance. A direct email to Mary is: boma1@ksbma.ks.gov. A direct email to Francis is: boma2@ksbma.ks.gov.

Respectfully submitted,

Mack Smith, Executive Secretary

Kansas State Board of Mortuary Arts - phone:(785)-296-3980 - fax:(785)296-0891