SB 239: Funeral Directors and Establishments; funeral directors be licensed embalmers; remove the requirement

Under current Georgia law, a funeral director must also hold an embalmer's license, even though the two jobs involve different skills: funeral directing covers arranging services and dealing with families, while embalming covers preparing bodies. This bill splits the two licenses apart. Applicants can now qualify for either license on its own, with separate education tracks, separate licensing exams, and separate 3,120-hour apprenticeships, though people can pursue both at once or add the other license later with reduced apprenticeship hours. The bill also restructures the State Board of Funeral Service to have seven members instead of six (three funeral directors, three embalmers, and one consumer-interest member), caps board terms at four years with a two-term limit, and gives the board subpoena power to investigate unlicensed practice. It removes the previous $100 cap on costs charged to families for handling unclaimed cremated or organically reduced remains, and requires funeral establishments to keep price lists and service records available for the board to inspect. A person acting as the licensed funeral director in charge of a funeral home must still hold both licenses.

• Removes the current requirement that anyone licensed as a funeral director must also be a licensed embalmer, creating two separate license paths.
• Sets distinct education, examination, and apprenticeship requirements for funeral director applicants and embalmer applicants, while allowing combined apprenticeships.
• Expands the State Board of Funeral Service from six to seven members, sets four-year terms with a two-term limit, and adds subpoena power to investigate unlicensed practice.
• Requires the specific funeral director placed in full and continuous charge of a funeral establishment to hold both a funeral director and an embalmer license.
• Removes the $100 cap on costs a family can be charged for the disposition of unclaimed cremated or organically reduced remains.
• Requires funeral establishments to keep a general price list and 12 months of service invoices and contracts available for the board to inspect.

The bill affects people seeking careers as funeral directors or embalmers in Georgia, current license holders needing renewal or reciprocity from other states, funeral homes and crematories and their owners, the seven-member State Board of Funeral Service, and families arranging funerals or handling unclaimed cremated remains.

Splitting the licenses could open the funeral director career to people who do not want to train in embalming, potentially easing staffing at funeral homes, while still requiring the person running a funeral home day to day to hold both credentials. Families could face uncapped fees for handling unclaimed remains and funeral homes face new recordkeeping duties.

• Section 1 rewrites definitions in O.C.G.A. § 43-18-1, including narrowing who counts as an 'embalmer' or 'funeral director' and broadening the definition of 'funeral merchandise'.
• Section 2 (O.C.G.A. § 43-18-3) makes it illegal to use the titles 'funeral director,' 'embalmer,' 'undertaker,' or 'mortician' without the matching license, and applies existing civil penalties to violators.
• Section 3 (O.C.G.A. § 43-18-4) lets a plaintiff who wins an injunction against unlicensed funeral practice recover their costs and attorney's fees.
• Section 4 (O.C.G.A. § 43-18-21) expands the board to seven members split evenly between funeral directors and embalmers plus one consumer member, and limits members to four-year terms with a two-term cap.
• Section 7 (O.C.G.A. § 43-18-41) creates separate education, exam, and 3,120-hour apprenticeship tracks for embalmer and funeral director applicants, while letting applicants combine both.
• Section 13 (O.C.G.A. § 43-18-71) requires the funeral director in full and continuous charge of a funeral establishment to hold both licenses and makes the establishment responsible for all funeral services it provides.
• Section 14 (O.C.G.A. § 43-18-80) removes the prior $100 cap on the cost charged to a family for entombing, interring, scattering, or storing unclaimed cremated or organically reduced remains.

1. 2026-03-12House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-03-12House Third Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-10House Postponed (House)
4. 2026-02-24House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
5. 2026-02-09House Second Readers (House)
6. 2026-02-06House First Readers (House)
7. 2026-02-05Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
8. 2026-02-05Senate Third Read (Senate)

• Larry Walker (R, SD-020)Primary sponsor
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Marty Harbin (R, SD-016)
• Derek Mallow (D, SD-002)
• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)
• Alan Powell (R, HD-033)

1. PassedSenate voteFebruary 5, 2026

   50 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 4 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #519

2. PassedHouse voteMarch 12, 2026

   148 yea, 6 nay (7 not voting, 15 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #701

• funeral director licensing
• embalmer licensing
• funeral establishment regulation
• cremation and remains disposal
• State Board of Funeral Service