LITTLE ROCK – Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced the names of eight appointees to the new State Board of Embalmers, Funeral Directors, Cemeteries, and Burial Services, which assumed oversight of the funeral industry July 1. The appointments include a resident from Monticello.
Act 788 of 2017 merged three autonomous boards – Cemetery, Burial Association, and Embalmers and Funeral Directors – into the single State Board of Embalmers, Funeral Directors, Cemeteries, and Burial Services. The board falls under the oversight of the State Insurance Department.
The law requires that the board include two licensed embalmers/funeral directors, two owners or operators of a licensed perpetual care cemetery, two people engaged in the operation of a burial association; and two consumer representatives, including one person to represent elderly consumers.
The appointees announced Tuesday are:
Licensed embalmer/funeral director:
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Chuck Dearman, Monticello. Appointment expires July 1, 2020.
Billy Curl, Blytheville. Appointment expires July 1, 2023.
Owner or operator of a licensed perpetual care cemetery:
Stephen Whitwell, Little Rock. Appointment expires July 1, 2022.
Bill Booker, Little Rock. Appointment expires July 1, 2021.
Engaged in the operation of a burial association:
Rausch Hodges, Forrest City. Appointment expires July 1, 2022.
Bruce Smithson, Springdale. Appointment expires July 1, 2023.
To represent the consumer community:
Stephanie Neipling, Rogers. Appointment expires July 1, 2021.
To represent the elderly consumer community:
Josephine Perry, Marshall. Appointment expires July 1, 2020.