1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2 1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
3 SENATE BILL 544 By: Montgomery
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6 AS INTRODUCED
7 An Act relating to the Perpetual Care Fund Act;
amending 36 O.S. 2021, Sections 7106 and 7112, which
8 relate to annual reports and actions to recover
monies; requiring owner of certain fund to maintain
9 certain permit; establishing application and renewal
process for certain permit; modifying application fee
10 for certain permit; requiring electronic submission
and payment; requiring renewal fee prior to
11 reinstatement of certain permit; establishing renewal
procedures for expired permit; requiring certain
12 report from expired permit holder; conforming
language; requiring certain report and fee payment by
13 certain date; setting maximum for certain fine; and
providing an effective date.
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16 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
17 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 36 O.S. 2021, Section 7106, is
18 amended to read as follows:
19 Section 7106. A. The No owner of a cemetery maintaining shall
20 maintain a Perpetual Care Trust Fund, or certificate of deposit in
21 lieu of a Perpetual Care Trust Fund, shall be required to pay to the
22 Insurance Commissioner an annual fee of Two Hundred Dollars
23 ($200.00), and file a report of each cemetery by March 15 of each
24 year with the Commissioner, showing, for the preceding calendar
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1 year: unless the owner has received a permit from the Insurance
2 Commissioner. Initial and renewal permit applications shall be
3 filed and a Two Hundred Dollar ($200.00) application fee or any
4 other fee assessed under this subsection shall be paid
5 electronically in the form and manner prescribed by the
6 Commissioner. The permit shall expire on March 15 of each calendar
7 year unless it is renewed by the permit holder. A permit expired
8 for failure to submit a renewal application and fee may be
9 reinstated within ninety (90) days after the expiration date by
10 electronically filing a renewal application, paying a fee in an
11 amount that is double the renewal fee, and paying any other fees
12 assessed in the form and manner prescribed by the Commissioner. The
13 Commissioner shall require a permit holder whose permit has been
14 expired for more than ninety (90) days to reapply as if a new
15 applicant and pay an application fee equal to an amount that is
16 double the renewal fee, in addition to any other fines imposed. Any
17 application received after the permit has been expired for more than
18 ninety (90) days shall include a detailed report of Perpetual Care
19 Trust Fund services provided in this state during the period that
20 the permit was expired.
21 B. The owner of a cemetery maintaining a Perpetual Care Trust
22 Fund or certificate of deposit in lieu of a Perpetual Care Trust
23 Fund shall file a report and pay any fees for the preceding year
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1 electronically by March 15 of each calendar year in the manner and
2 form prescribed by the Commissioner.
3 1. The gross amount received from sales of grave spaces, lots,
4 mausoleum crypts and niches;
5 2. The total purchase price of grave spaces, lots, mausoleum
6 crypts and niches on contracts which received final payment and
7 required deposits to the Perpetual Care Fund during the calendar
8 year;
9 3. The operating expenses incurred during the calendar year
10 which are eligible to be paid from income of the Perpetual Care
11 Fund;
12 4. The total amount of the principal of the Perpetual Care Fund
13 as of the beginning of the preceding calendar year; and
14 5. The amount segregated and deposited in the Perpetual Care
15 Fund as provided by the Perpetual Care Fund Act which, if the
16 Perpetual Care Fund is held in trust, shall be certified by the
17 trustee of the Perpetual Care Fund as to correctness thereof, and
18 the trustee shall provide:
19 a. the total amount of the principal of the Perpetual
20 Care Fund as of the end of the calendar year,
21 b. the securities and other assets in which such
22 perpetual care funds are invested,
23 c. the cash on hand,
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1 d. a verification in writing of all assets in which
2 monies of the Perpetual Care Fund have been invested;
3 provided, the verification shall be obtained from the
4 holder or holders of the assets,
5 e. the income derived from the Perpetual Care Fund
6 investments during the calendar year, and
7 f. the gross expenditures or transfers from income of the
8 Perpetual Care Fund during the calendar year.
9 The annual fee collected pursuant to this subsection shall be
10 deposited in the State Insurance Commissioner Revolving Fund created
11 pursuant to Section 307.3 of this title.
12 B. C. If the Perpetual Care Fund is maintained in a certificate
13 of deposit in lieu of a trust fund, the cemetery shall provide in
14 its annual report a verification from the financial institution as
15 to the amount of principal of the Perpetual Care Fund as of the end
16 of the calendar year, and the amount of funds contributed to the
17 certificate of deposit by the cemetery as of each maturity date of
18 the certificate of deposit during the last calendar year.
19 C. D. The Commissioner shall have authority, at any time, to
20 inspect the books and records of any cemetery, and to make an
21 examination thereof for the purpose of determining if proper sums
22 have been deposited with the trustee in the Perpetual Care Fund, or
23 in a certificate of deposit maintained in lieu of a trust fund, and
24 if the Fund is being properly administered by the trustee in
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1 accordance with the provisions of the Perpetual Care Fund Act and
2 rules of the Commissioner. The examination shall be conducted
3 pursuant to Sections 309.1 through 309.7 of this title and the cost
4 of the examination shall be paid by the cemetery owner. The cost of
5 the examination shall be billed directly to the cemetery owner by
6 the examiner. Each cemetery owner and trustee is responsible for
7 maintaining satisfactory books and records which adequately justify
8 all information contained in the annual report required by this
9 section.
10 D. E. Whenever a cemetery owner and/or trustee refuses to
11 submit the books, records, papers, and instruments of the cemetery
12 to the examination and inspection of the assistants or examiners of
13 the Insurance Commissioner, or refuses or neglects to establish or
14 maintain a Perpetual Care Trust Fund in accordance with the
15 requirements of the Perpetual Care Fund Act within ninety (90) days
16 after a written demand to establish or maintain a Perpetual Care
17 Fund is made by the Commissioner, or in any manner obstructs or
18 interferes with the examination of its cemetery or refuses to be
19 examined on oath concerning any of the affairs of its cemetery, the
20 Commissioner may make application for receivership in the manner of
21 a domestic insurer pursuant to Sections 1901 through 1920 of this
22 title.
23 SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 36 O.S. 2021, Section 7112, is
24 amended to read as follows:
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1 Section 7112. A. The Insurance Commissioner may initiate an
2 action to recover payments required to be deposited to the State
3 Insurance Commissioner Revolving Fund pursuant to the Perpetual Care
4 Fund Act or to recover other monies received or disbursed in
5 violation of the Perpetual Care Fund Act.
6 B. The Insurance Commissioner may, after an opportunity for
7 hearing and a determination that an owner of a cemetery is in
8 violation of the Perpetual Care Fund Act, censure an owner of a
9 cemetery, levy a fine as deemed appropriate by the Commissioner not
10 to exceed One Thousand ($1,000.00) for each occurrence, or both
11 censure and levy a fine against an owner of a cemetery any
12 combination of the above for violation of any provision of the
13 Perpetual Care Fund Act or any rules promulgated in accordance with
14 the act.
15 SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
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17 59-1-398 RD 2/7/2023 5:17:17 PM
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