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ENGROSSED SENATE
BILL NO. 544 By: Montgomery of the Senate
and
Sneed of the House
An Act relating to the Perpetual Care Fu nd Act;
amending 36 O.S. 2021, Sectio ns 7106 and 7112, which
relate to annual reports and act ions to recover
monies; requiring owner of certain fund to maintain
certain permit; establishing application and renewal
process for certain permit; modifying application fee
for certain permit; requiring electronic submission
and payment; requiring renewal fee prior to
reinstatement of certain permit; establishing renewal
procedures for expired permit ; requiring certain
report from expired permit holder; conforming
language; requiring certain report an d fee payment by
certain date; setting maximum for certain fine; and
providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 36 O.S. 20 21, Section 7106, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 7106. A. The No owner of a cemetery maintaining shall
maintain a Perpetual Care Trust Fund, or certificate of deposit in
lieu of a Perpetual Care Trust Fund, shall be required to pay to th e
Insurance Commissioner an annual fee of Two H undred Dollars
($200.00), and file a report of each cemetery by March 15 of each
year with the Commissioner, showing, for the preceding calendar
year: unless the owner has received a permit from the Insurance
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Commissioner. Initial and renewal permit applications shall be
filed electronically in the manner and form prescribed by the
Commissioner, along with a two-hundred-dollar application fee and
any transaction or ot her applicable fees. The permit shall expire
on March 15 of each calendar year unless it is renewed by the permit
holder. A permit expired for failure to submit a renewal
application and fee may be reinstated within nin ety (90) days after
the expiration date by electronically filing a renewal application,
paying a fee in an amount that is double the renewal fee , and paying
any transaction or other applicable fees in the form and manner
prescribed by the Comm issioner. The Commissioner shall require a
permit holder whose permit has been expired for more than ninety
(90) days to reapply as if a new applicant and pay an ap plication
fee equal to an amount that is double the renewal fee, in addition
to any other fines imposed. A ny application received after the
permit has been expired for more than ninety (90) days shall include
a detailed report of Perpetual Care Trust Fund services provided in
this state during the p eriod that the permit was expired.
B. The owner of a cemetery maintaini ng a Perpetual Care T rust
Fund or certificate of deposit in lieu of a Perpetual Care Trust
Fund shall, by March 15 of each calendar year, electronically file a
report and pay any appli cable fees in the manner and form prescribed
by the Commissioner. Such report shall show, for the preceding
calendar year:
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1. The gross amount received from sales of grave spaces, lots,
mausoleum crypts and ni ches;
2. The total purchase price of grave s paces, lots, mausoleum
crypts and niches on contracts which received final payment and
required deposits to the Perpetual Care Fund during the calendar
year;
3. The operating expens es incurred during the calend ar year
which are eligible to be paid from in come of the Perpetual Care
Fund;
4. The total amount of the principal of the Perpetual Care Fund
as of the beginning of the preceding calendar year; and
5. The amount segregated an d deposited in the Perpetual Care
Fund as provided by the Perpetual Care F und Act which, if the
Perpetual Care Fund is held in trust, shall be certified by the
trustee of the Perpetual Care Fund as to correctness thereof, and
the trustee shall provide:
a. the total amount of the princ ipal of the Perpetual
Care Fund as of the end of the calendar year,
b. the securities and other assets in which such
perpetual care funds are invested,
c. the cash on hand,
d. a verification in writing of all assets in which
monies of the Perpetual Care Fu nd have been invested;
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provided, the verifica tion shall be obtained from the
holder or holders of the assets,
e. the income derived from the Perpetual Care Fund
investments during the calendar year, and
f. the gross expenditure s or transfers from income of the
Perpetual Care Fund during the calendar year.
The annual fee collected pursuant to this subsection shall be
deposited in the State Insurance Commissioner Revolving Fund created
pursuant to Section 307.3 of this title.
B. C. If the Perpetual Care Fund is maintained in a certificate
of deposit in lieu of a trust fund, the cemetery shall provide in
its annual report a verification from the financial institution as
to the amount of principal of the Perpetual Care Fund as of the e nd
of the calendar year, a nd the amount of funds contributed to the
certificate of deposit by the cemetery as of each maturity date of
the certificate of deposit during the last calendar year.
C. D. The Commissioner shall have authority, at any time, to
inspect the books and recor ds of any cemetery, and to make an
examination thereof for the purpose of determining if proper sums
have been deposited with the trustee in the Perpetual Care Fund, or
in a certificate of deposit maintained in lieu of a trust fund, and
if the Fund is being properly administered by the trustee in
accordance with the provisions of the Perpetual Care Fund Act and
rules of the Commissioner. The examination shall be conducted
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pursuant to Sections 309.1 through 309.7 of this title and the cost
of the examination shall be paid by the cemetery owner. The c ost of
the examination shall be billed directly to the cemetery owner by
the examiner. Each cemetery owner and trustee is responsible for
maintaining satisfactory books and records which adequately justify
all information contained in the annual report re quired by this
section.
D. E. Whenever a cemetery owner and/or trustee refuses to
submit the books, records, papers, and instruments of the cemetery
to the examination and inspection of the assistants or examin ers of
the Insurance Commissioner, or refuses or neglects to establish or
maintain a Perpetual Care Trust Fund in accordance with the
requirements of the Perpetual Care Fund Act within ninety (90) days
after a written demand to establi sh or maintain a Perp etual Care
Fund is made by the Commissioner, or in any manner obstructs or
interferes with the examination of its cemetery or refuses to be
examined on oath concerning any of the affairs of its cemetery, the
Commissioner may make appli cation for receiversh ip in the manner of
a domestic insurer pursua nt to Sections 1901 through 1920 of this
title.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 36 O.S. 2021, Section 7112, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 7112. A. The Insurance Commissioner may initiate an
action to recover payments required to be deposited to the State
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Insurance Commissioner Revolving Fund pursuant to the Perpetual Care
Fund Act or to recover other monies received or disbursed in
violation of the Perpetual Care Fu nd Act.
B. The Insurance Commissioner may, after an opportunity f or
hearing and a determination that an owner of a cemetery is in
violation of the Perpetual Care Fun d Act, censure an owner of a
cemetery, levy a fine as deemed appropriate by the Commissi oner not
to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) for each occurrence, or
both censure and levy a fine against an owner of a cemetery any
combination of the above for violation of any provision of the
Perpetual Care Fund Act or any r ules promulgated in accordance with
the act.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
Passed the Senate the 21st day of March, 2023.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
Passed the House of Representatives the ____ day of __________,
2023.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives