REGULAR BOARD MEETING

MINUTES

October 3, 2001

The North Carolina Board of Mortuary Science met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting on October 3, 2001, at 9:00 a.m. in the Board’s office located at 2321 Crabtree Boulevard, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Present: Nancy Rorie, President; Paul Harris, Vice President; Elliott Futrell, Stuart Cozort, Darryl Hart, Julia Jordan and Alex Lee

Also Present: Mark E. Henderson, Executive Director

Others Present: Patricia Hayes, Dan Shackleford, Jimmy Swaringen, Rudy Lea, Louis Bennett, William Betts, Joe Cutchins, Jonathan Carr, Jack Nichols and Angela Long Carter.

Vice President Paul Harris called the meeting to order and read the Board of Ethics statement, Governor Easley’s Executive Order #1 in President Nancy Rorie’s absence. No one expressed any conflict of interest at this time.

Elliott Futrell gave the invocation.

At this time President Nancy Rorie arrived and took over the meeting.

Vice President Paul Harris, in the absence of Secretary Harvey Leavitt, submitted the minutes to the Board. Mr. Futrell made the motion to accept the minutes as previously submitted and Ms. Jordan seconded. The motion carried.

Mr. Henderson stated Mr. Kai Hardaway had requested an appearance before the Board to make comments regarding the Cofield Mutual Burial Association and compliance with the Board’s Consent Order. Mr. Hardaway was allowed ten minutes to speak. Several questions from Board members were directed to Mr. Hardaway and he was then excused.

At this time Nancy Rorie and Stuart Cozort recused themselves from the Administrative Hearing of NCBMS vs. Beasley Funeral Home; Odell Beasley; and Crystal Beasley-Walker since they were on the Disciplinary Committee at the time the complaint was made. Mr. Harris took the chair from Ms. Rorie. Neither party submitted any additional documentation so the hearing was for oral arguments only. Jack Nichols with Allen & Pinnix argued for the Board and Attorney Barry Storick argued for Beasley Funeral Home and Odell Beasley. Crystal Beasley-Walker represented herself. After hearing the arguments, Mr. Hart made the motion to go into closed session to take disciplinary actions against a licensee. Mr. Futrell seconded and the motion carried.

Upon proper motion, the Board returned to open session. Based on a motion made by Mr. Hart, seconded by Mr. Lee and unanimously approved, the Board adopted the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law contained in the Office of Administrative Hearings decision. The Board also decided to: 1. Revoke Respondent Odell Beasley’s funeral director’s license; 2. Suspend Respondent Crystal Beasley-Walker’s funeral license for a period of six months with all but one month of the suspension being suspended upon appropriate terms and conditions of probation; 3. Revoke the funeral establishment license for Respondent Beasley Funeral Home and it must cease all operations; and 4. Revoke the preneed license of Respondent Beasley Funeral Home. Ms. Rorie and Mr. Cozort did not vote on this matter.

Mr. Henderson directed the Board’s attention to the faxes the Board had received concerning the election of the new Board member to replace Michael McGhee. The faxes were in the order in which they had been received.

After the September 5, 2001, meeting in which the Board had voted by secret written ballot, Mr. Henderson had researched this at the North Carolina Supreme Court Library and had determined that the voting by secret ballot was not allowed when voting for a member of the Board. Mr. Henderson explained proper voting procedure regarding the secret written ballot. Ms. Rorie suggested Mr. Henderson set up a class for the Board members on the Open Meeting Law.

Ms. Rorie then called for Committee Reports.

Finance: Mr. Cozort reviewed the financials and stated he was available at any time for questions. Boyce, Furr & Company, LLP, have mailed us the financial statements for year the ended December 31, 2000 and the financial statements are available for review in the Board office. Mr. Cozort made the motion to accept the financial report. Mr. Futrell seconded. Motion carried.

Preneed: Mr. Harris stated the Preneed Committee had met prior to the Board meeting. After reviewing the Preneed Activity Report, Mr. Harris submitted the following information.

A letter had been received from a funeral home that wanted to use an insurance funded contract that had been approved for one specific insurance company for another insurance company. The contracts that had been approved have very specific language just for that specific insurance company and should not be used for other insurance providers. Mr. Harris noted that Forethought and Homesteaders insurance policies must be on their respective forms because the wording in the body of their contracts indicates that the terms of their contracts are substantially different from all other contracts. The committee is considering all contracts be uniform in language beginning January 1, 2003.

It had also been brought to the Committee’s attention that on trust funded contracts, signatures are required for purchaser, preneed sales licensee and funeral director/funeral service licensee but it was not clear whether a signature is required for the financial institution. The Committee noted that the statute requires the signature of all parties. Therefore, the signature of the financial institution is required. The Committee made the motion to require the signature of the financial institution as stated in the statute. Mr. Cozort seconded and the motion carried.

Mr. Harris stated there would be some investigation issues that may be brought before the Board at an upcoming meeting.

Clinic Report: Mr. Harris stated the next Continuing Education Seminar is scheduled for December 11 at the McKimmon Center for five hours of credit. This is in conjunction with the North Carolina Funeral Directors Association and the Funeral Directors and Morticians Association of North Carolina, Inc. Doug Howard with the United States Army Mortuary Affairs Division will provide two hours of credit and Mr. Harris has plans for someone with the D-Mort team to have two hours. Mr. Harris has one hour of credit that he has not yet scheduled.

Personnel: Mr. Futrell made the motion on behalf of the Personnel Committee to accept the new Personnel Manual that had been updated. Since it was the recommendation of a committee, no second was necessary for the motion and the motion carried.

Disciplinary: Mr. Hart stated the Disciplinary Committee had met on Tuesday, October 5 and their report was submitted for approval. After review of the report, discussion ensued. Mr. Harris made the motion to accept the report. Mr. Futrell seconded and the motion carried.

Executive Director’s Report: The Board has received the letter from Chairman George Bason of the North Carolina Board of Ethics regarding Ms. Jordan serving as a public member and did not find any conflict of interest. Mr. Lee made the motion to append this letter to the minutes. Mr. Cozort seconded and the motion carried.

The Board of Ethics had issued an opinion regarding joint continuing education programs with trade associations. Their opinion stated that the Board could not split profits with trade associations. The opinion cautioned against any "partnering" with the trade associations to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

Mr. Henderson presented to the Board a Resolution expressing appreciation to Michael Neubert for his voluntary services to New York after the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Mr. Cozort made the motion to accept the Resolution and Mr. Hart seconded and the motion carried.

The CLEAR Conference has been rescheduled for January 8 – 10, 2002. Mr. Henderson asked that any Board member interested in attending should inform him as soon as possible.

Mr. Henderson reported that after today’s Disciplinary Report was approved there are approximately 60 cases outstanding. This compares with the 130 cases that he reported outstanding at the June Board meeting.

Mr. Henderson indicated he will be going with an examiner next week to a funeral home to observe the examination and this will be the beginning of the drafting of a Preneed Manual.

Attorney’s Report: Mr. Cozort made the motion to go into Closed Session to discuss attorney –client privilege. Mr. Lee seconded and the motion carried.

Upon proper motion, the Board returned to open session. Mr. Harris made the motion to recess for lunch and reconvene ten minutes after the Board of Elections adjourned. Mr. Lee seconded and the motion carried.

Following the meeting of the Board of Elections, the meeting reconvened at 3:20 p.m.

New Business: Mr. Harris made the motion to defer discussing the Crematory Statute until the November 7, 2001 meeting. Ms. Jordan seconded and the motion carried.

Unfinished Business: Mr. Lee made the motion to take from the table the motion for the election of the new Board Member. Mr. Futrell seconded the motion. Mr. Hart, Mr. Lee and Mr. Futrell voted for the motion. Ms. Jordan, Mr. Cozort and Mr. Harris voted against the motion. Ms. Rorie voted against the motion and the motion did not carry. Thus, the election of a new Board member will need to be taken up at a future meeting.

Mr. Harris made the motion to adjourn the Board meeting and Ms. Jordan seconded. The meeting was then adjourned.

Nancy G. Rorie, President

Paul Harris, Acting Secretary