The “State government has failed you” is the voice to Colorado consumers about the state’s funeral service issues even before the latest potential illegal situation was uncovered in Denver two weeks ago.  The comment came from State Senator Dylan Roberts of Colorado as he is working on putting together legislation aimed at curbing the cases of death care misconduct that have left many families “angry and reeling”.  

 

Most people are already familiar with the situation discovered in October 2023 about scores of decomposing bodies found in a Penrose, Colorado, funeral home.  This article from the Denver Post of February 16, 2024, of which I also saw an article in the Wall Street Journal of February 17, 2024, tells of a another recent situation in Denver where a deceased human was found in a hearse.

 

Here’s what the Denver Post article says about the situation, “The woman, 63, had died of natural causes in 2022, police said. Investigators said they believe the body had been stored in the hearse since shortly after her death. The woman’s family told authorities that Harford (the funeral director in question) had provided them with cremains after she died”.

 

Sen. Roberts continued with this comment, “Right now we are the only state in the nation that doesn’t provide any sort of licensing or regulation of the employees that work in funeral homes.  And that is one of the reasons I strongly believe that we’ve had these tragedies in Colorado.”

 

It should be noted that the Colorado Funeral Association is also calling for new regulations.  One sticking point of any new legislation, according to the article, is that the funeral directors group is asking “lawmakers to exempt current workers in the industry from all of those (new) requirements except for the background check and a licensing fee”.

 

Roberts says the solution to that issue is a compromise that he says “threads the needle”.  Again, according to the article, “Roberts said he will try to “thread the needle” on the issue by offering professionals who have already been operating in Colorado without any violations “a way to quickly become credentialed and licensed by the state.”

 

Related — According to this YouTube video of the NBC News – Channel 9 of Denver on Saturday, February 17, it is expected that Colorado will have the funeral bills introduced into the legislature possibly as early as this week.  Coverage of the funeral home licensure situation begins at the 2:08 minute time period of this video.

 

Related — Potential Changes in Indiana — This article explains a recent challenge to the Indiana regulation whereby a paid “advisor” of funeral services must be licensed.

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• 7 Questions. . . with a Beaumont mortician.  Beaumont Enterprise (TX)
• Scrub Hub:  What is a green burial?   (Yes, in involves demposting into the earth)  Indianapolis Star (IN)
• More than he bargained for.  The “hoops” and costs to cremate a loved on in Maine.  Video news story and print article.  WGME – Fox 23 (ME)

 

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