Sec. 651.259. APPLICATION BY OUT-OF-STATE LICENSE HOLDER

(a) The commission shall waive any requirement for a funeral director's license or an embalmer's license for an applicant who holds a license issued by another state, country, or territory that has license requirements substantially equivalent to the requirements of this state and who meets the requirements of this section. The commission may waive any license requirement for an applicant who holds a license issued by another state that does not have license requirements substantially equivalent to those of this state and who meets the requirements of this section. The applicant shall pay a license fee in an amount set by the commission.

(b) Any applicant for a license under this section shall file a sworn application that includes:

(1) a statement that:

(A) the applicant is the person to whom the license was issued;

(B) no proceeding has been instituted against the applicant for the cancellation, suspension, or revocation of the license in the state, country, or territory that issued the license; and

(C) no prosecution is pending against the applicant in a state or federal court for an offense that, under the laws of this state, is a felony, or is a misdemeanor related to the practice of embalming or funeral directing; and

(2) an affidavit of a person described by Subsection (c) verifying that:

(A) the accompanying license has not been canceled, suspended, or revoked; and

(B) the statement of the qualifications made in the application for licensure in this state is correct.

(c) The affidavit must be made by:

(1) the presiding officer or secretary of the governmental entity that issued the license; or

(2) a registration officer of the state, country, or territory that issued the license.

(d) The applicant must affirm in the statement that the license under which the applicant practiced as a funeral director or embalmer in the state, country, or territory from which the applicant moved was, at the time the applicant left, in effect.

(e) The commission shall conduct a criminal background check on each applicant. An applicant is not eligible for a license under this section if the applicant has, in the 10 years preceding the date of the application, been finally convicted of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or a felony.

(f) An applicant for a license under this section must:

(1) provide proof that:

(A) the license is in good standing;

(B) the applicant has practiced under the license for at least:

(i) one year in the state that issued the license if that state has license requirements substantially equivalent to those of this state; or

(ii) five years in the state that issued the license if that state does not have license requirements substantially equivalent to those of this state; and

(C) the applicant has graduated from an accredited college of mortuary science; and

(2) pass a written examination of not more than 50 questions on applicable state laws and commission rules.

(g) The commission shall conduct the examination under Subsection (f)(2) at each regularly scheduled meeting of the commission.

Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, Sec. 14.384(a), eff. Sept. 1, 2001.