(1) The basic requirement for continuing education shall be completion of a minimum of 12 clock hours in a two-year period, with a maximum carry-over from one year to the next of six hours.

(2) Each licensee in this state shall sign an affidavit stating that he/she has completed a minimum of six clock-hours of continuing education courses, which affidavit shall be submitted as a part of his or her renewal application.

(a) Compliance with the requirements of continuing education is a prerequisite for license renewal.

(3) Hours of continuing education credit may be obtained by attending and participating in continuing education courses, workshops, seminars or other activities meeting the requirements herein.

(4) The board/staff will not preapprove continuing education programs or sponsors. Qualifying criteria for continuing education are specified in these rules. It is the responsibility of the licensees to select quality programs that contribute to their knowledge and competence which also meet these qualifications.

(a) The continuing education program must meet the following criteria:

(i) The activity must have significant intellectual or practical content. The activity must deal primarily with substantive funeral service issues. In addition, the board may accept continuing education activities from other professional groups or academic disciplines if the licensee demonstrates that the activity is substantially related to his or her role as a mortician. A continuing education program is defined as a class, institute, lecture, conference, or workshop. The following types of continuing education courses must require passage of a test following completion of the course: home study, cassette, videotape or activity delivered by other means.

(ii) The activity itself must be conducted or written by an individual or group qualified by practical or academic experience.

(iii) All acceptable continuing education courses must provide the licensee with documentation of program and attendance, containing at least the following information: full name and qualifications of the presentor; title of the presentation attended; number of hours and date of each presentation attended; name of sponsor; and description of the presentation format.

(b) Implementation for continuing education shall be as follows:

(i) One continuing education credit shall be granted for each hour of participation in the continuing education activity. A maximum of three credits per year by cassette, videotape or tested home study will be allowed.

(ii) No continuing education is required for morticians renewing their license for the first time.

(iii) The board will randomly audit 10 percent of the licensed morticians each year. Audited licensees must provide copies of completion certificates to the board as verification of compliance by the renewal deadline date.

(A) The board will review these audit reports within six months of their receipt.

(B) Those not receiving notice from the board regarding their continuing education should assume satisfactory compliance.

(C) Licensees found to be in noncompliance with the requirement will be asked to submit to the board for approval a plan to complete the continuing education requirements for licensure.

(D) Prior to the next consecutive year's license renewal deadline, those licensees who were found to be in noncompliance will be formally reviewed to determine their eligibility for license renewal. Licensees, who at this time have not complied with continuing education requirements, will not be granted license renewal until they have fulfilled the board-approved plan to complete the requirements.

(E) Notices will be considered properly mailed when addressed to the last known address on file in the board office.

(F) No continuing education used to complete delinquent continuing education plan requirements for licensure may be used to meet the continuing education requirements for the next continuing education reporting period.

(iv) if a licensee is unable to acquire sufficient continuing education credits to meet the requirements, he or she may request a waiver. All requests for waiver will be considered by the Board of Funeral Service and evaluated on an individual basis.

(v) It is the responsibility of the licensee to establish and maintain detailed records of continuing education compliance (in the form of programs and documentation of attendance) for a period of two years following submission of a continuing education report.

(5) It is the responsibility of each licensee to finance his or her costs of continuing education.