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Inventory of the Dept. of Consumer Affairs - Cemetery Board Records
F3860, R404.1
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Title: Dept. of Consumer Affairs - Cemetery Board Records
Dates: 1949-1978
Collection number: F3860, R404.1
Creator:
Dept. of Consumer Affairs - Cemetery Board
Collection Size:
4 cubic feet
Repository:
California State Archives
Sacramento, California
Abstract: The Cemetery Board was created by Chapter 1487,
Statutes of 1949, which added Chapter 19 to Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code 9600 et seq. The records of the Cemetery
Board consist of 4 cubic feet of textual materials dating from 1949 to 1978. The records document the plans, studies, goals,
and operations of the board during this time period.
Physical location: California State Archives
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
While the majority of the records are open for research, any access restrictions are noted in the record series descriptions.
For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication
is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility
for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives
collections.
[Identification of item], Department of Consumer Affairs-Cemetery Board Records, [ID number].[series number], [box and folder
number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.
The Cemetery Board was created by Chapter 1487,
Statutes of 1949, which added Chapter 19 to Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code 9600 et seq. This legislation, also known
as the Cemetery Act, placed the Cemetery Board under the Department of Professional and Vocational Standards. It originally
consisted of five members with terms expiring after one year until 1953. The legislation specified that members would be appointed
by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The board was created for the purpose of regulating cemeteries, cemetery brokers,
and cemetery salesmen. The Act, however, excluded the following types of cemeteries from the board’s jurisdiction: a religious
corporation, church, religious society or denomination, a corporation solely administering temporalities of any church or
religious society or denomination, or any cemetery organized, controlled, and operated by any of them; a public cemetery;
and any private or fraternal burial park not exceeding ten acres in area, established before 1939.
Nonetheless, the legislation stipulated that the aforementioned cemeteries shall be subject to cemetery brokerage provisions.
The provisions are outlined in Article 4 of the Act (Business and Professions Code Sections 9675-9686). They include, but
are not limited to, acts constituting being a cemetery broker or salesperson; pleading and proving license in action for compensation;
prohibited employment or compensation with respect to unlicensed persons; dissemination of known false statement; and advertising
without license or certificate.
The board was also authorized to examine the endowment care funds of cemetery corporations. Prior to 1950, cemetery brokers
and salesmen had been licensed by the Division of Real Estate, State Department of Investment. In 1971, the Department of
Professional and Vocational Standards became the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Now known as the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, the entity licenses, regulates, and investigates complaints against California
funeral establishments, funeral directors, embalmers, apprentice embalmers, cemetery brokers, cemetery salespersons, cremated
remains disposers, crematories, crematory managers, cemetery managers, and the nearly 200 licensed cemeteries in the state
(Business and Professions Code Section 9609). The Bureau consists of 25 staff members which includes the Bureau Chief, Field
Operations Supervisor, auditors, field representatives, analysts, and administrative assistants.
The records of the Cemetery Board consist of 4 cubic feet of textual materials dating from 1949 to 1978. The records document
the plans, studies, goals, and operations of the board during this time period. The records are organized into 4 record series:
Cemetery Questionnaires, 1949-1977; California Association of Public Cemeteries, 1963, 1966; Information on Indian Cemeteries,
1962, 1969; and Board Meeting Records, 1963-1971, 1973-1978. The majority of the material consists of Cemetery Questionnaires
and Board Meeting Records. Fourteen cubic feet of Endowment Care Reports covering the years 1949 to 1984 were deaccessioned
during processing because the records did not possess archival or research value (AC 86-100, AC 93-02-30, 2006-146, 1999-11-24).
Further accruals are expected.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Cemetery managers
Funeral homes
Embalming
Crematorium
Native American