Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-5-313 (2026)

• (a) Every person, firm, partnership or corporation, at each and every place of business conducted by that person, firm, partnership or corporation, in the business or practice of funeral directing shall have a fixed place of business or establishment devoted to the care and preparation of dead human bodies and shall have a licensed funeral director in charge of each such place of business; and no employee or member of the firm or corporation shall engage in the care, preparation, disposal or burial of dead human bodies and the management of funerals, nor discharge the duties of a funeral director, unless the employee or member is a licensed funeral director in accordance with this chapter. Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted to prohibit the use of unlicensed assistants when they are under the direction and supervision of a licensed funeral director.

• (b)
  • (1) A license to operate a funeral establishment shall not be issued by the board unless the applicant has at least one (1) full-time person duly licensed for the practice of funeral directing and a duly licensed embalmer in attendance during the preparation of the dead remains.
  • (2) Each funeral establishment must have available for its use a preparation room equipped with tile, cement or composition floor, necessary drainage and ventilation and necessary instruments and supplies for the preparation of embalming dead human bodies for burial, transportation or other disposition.

• (c) Every funeral establishment licensed under this chapter must be managed and supervised by a licensed funeral director, responsible for each funeral establishment.

• (d)
  • (1) Prior to or at the time of placing a dead human body in a casket for interment or entombment, each funeral establishment shall securely affix or attach to the body, preferably upon the ankle, a permanent identification device approved by the board, containing the decedent's name, date of birth, and date of death. If that information is not available to the funeral establishment, then a permanent identification device stating that the information is not available shall be affixed or attached to the body.
  • (2) If a dead human body is to be cremated, then a permanent identification device approved by the board, containing the decedent's name, date of birth, and date of death shall be placed in the crematory urn before the remains are placed in the urn. If the information is not available to the funeral establishment, then a permanent identification device stating the information is not available shall be placed in the crematory urn before the remains are placed in the urn.
  • (3) No funeral establishment shall solicit or collect a fee for the affixing or attaching of a permanent identification device pursuant to this section.
  • (4) Failure to comply with this subsection (d) is a disciplinary offense and is punishable as provided in § 62-5-317.

• (e) Each funeral establishment must have its current license available for inspection in the office of the funeral establishment.

• (f) Nothing in this chapter prohibits the use of a licensed funeral establishment to prepare any remains for disposition or to perform, or offer to perform, commemorative services, if the commemorative services are performed in compliance with this chapter and applicable provisions in title 68, and rules promulgated pursuant to this chapter and title 68. For the purposes of this subsection (f), "commemorative services" means any ceremony for the dead prior to burial, cremation, or any other legal form of final disposition.

Amended by 2017 Tenn. Acts, ch. 144, s 1, eff. 4/17/2017.

Amended by 2017 Tenn. Acts, ch. 139, s 1, eff. 4/17/2017.

Acts 1951, ch. 13, § 10 (Williams, § 7140.10); modified; Acts 1968, ch. 542, § 3; 1975, ch. 346, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 62-520; Acts 1995, ch. 21, § 1; 2001, ch. 188, § 17.