Regulatory Agencies, Board Procedures, and Enforcement
The agency map
Florida's funeral regulatory system is not housed in the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The Board of Funeral, Cemetery, and Consumer Services and the Division of Funeral, Cemetery, and Consumer Services are within the Department of Financial Services. The Board adopts rules, sets licensure standards, and decides discipline; the Division handles applications, licensing, inspections, investigations, and consumer complaints. The Board does not run the investigation that leads to its own probable-cause decision.
Enforcement flow
- A consumer, competitor, or inspector files a complaint with the Division.
- The Division investigates and may inspect records, establishments, and crematories.
- If the complaint is legally sufficient, a probable-cause panel of the Board reviews the investigative file. If probable cause is found, the Division serves an administrative complaint.
- The licensee may request a formal hearing before an Administrative Law Judge at the Division of Administrative Hearings under Chapter 120. The ALJ issues a recommended order; the Board issues the final order.
- Penalties include reprimand, fine, probation, suspension, revocation, restitution, and costs. The Board may also use citations for minor violations.
- Unlicensed practice can be addressed by cease-and-desist orders, injunctions, and penalties; criminal referral may follow.
Worked example
A family complains that a funeral home released the wrong cremated remains. The Division investigates and documents the chain-of-custody failure. The probable-cause panel finds probable cause. The Division files an administrative complaint alleging practice-standard violations. The licensee requests a formal hearing; the ALJ recommends a 30-day suspension and a fine; the Board enters the final order. The licensee must appeal within 30 days of the final order, not the ALJ's recommended order. The family's separate civil suit does not stop the administrative case.
Traps
- Saying the Board investigates complaints. The Division investigates; the Board adjudicates through probable cause and final orders.
- Confusing DOAH with the Board. The ALJ recommends; the Board imposes.
- Missing the appeal deadline. The notice of appeal runs from the final order, generally 30 days under the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure.
- Assuming a private settlement ends discipline. The administrative case can continue because it protects the public, not just the complainant.