A. The Cemetery Board shall consist of seven members to be appointed by the Governor as follows: four cemetery operators who have operated a cemetery in the Commonwealth for at least five consecutive years immediately prior to appointment, no more than two of whom shall be affiliated with a cemetery company incorporated in the Commonwealth which is owned, operated or affiliated, directly or indirectly, with a foreign corporation; one representative of local government, and two citizen members. Appointments to the Board shall generally represent the geographical areas of the Commonwealth.

B. All appointments shall be for terms of four years, except that appointment to fill vacancies shall be for the unexpired terms. No person shall be eligible to serve for more than two successive four-year terms.

C. The Board shall annually elect a chairman and a vice-chairman from among its members. The Board shall meet at least once each year and may meet as often as its duties require. Four members shall constitute a quorum.

D. In addition to the general powers and duties conferred in this subtitle, the Board shall have the power and duty to (i) regulate preneed burial contracts and perpetual care trust fund accounts as prescribed by this chapter, including, but not limited to, the authority to prescribe preneed contract forms, disclosure requirements and disclosure forms and to require reasonable bonds to insure performance of preneed contracts, (ii) regulate and register sales personnel employed by a cemetery company, and (iii) regulate and establish qualifications and standards of conduct for compliance agents employed by a cemetery company to assure compliance of the cemetery with the provisions of this chapter.

E. In addition to such other regulations the Board deems appropriate, the Board shall adopt regulations which provide:

1. A method for executing, at-need, a preneed burial contract, including the petitioning a court of competent jurisdiction for the appointment of a receiver, where a licensee who is a party to such preneed burial contract has had his license to operate a cemetery revoked or suspended for violation of this chapter or Board regulations; and

2. Consumer protections which are consistent with those provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Funeral Rules which the Board finds may be appropriately applied to cemetery companies.

1998, cc. 708, 721; 2004, c. 247; 2010, c. 91; 2012, c. 522.