Funeral services board created by Act 788 of 2017

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr today announced that the first meeting of the State Board of Embalmers, Funeral Directors, Cemeteries, and Burial Services will take place in the main hearing room at the Arkansas Insurance Department on August 21, 2018 at 10 a.m.

The new board, created within the Insurance Department by Act 788 of 2017, is comprised of Commissioner Kerr and the following appointees of Governor Asa Hutchinson:

• Chuck Dearman of Monticello, whose term expires July 1, 2020;
• Billy Curl of Blytheville, whose term expires July 1, 2023;
• Stephen Whitwell of Little Rock, whose term expires July 1, 2022;
• Bill Booker of Little Rock, whose term expires July 1, 2021;
• Rausch Hodges of Forrest City, whose term expires July 1, 2022;
• Bruce Smithson of Springdale, whose term expires on July 1, 2023;
• Stephanie Neipling of Rogers, whose term expires on July 1, 2021; and
• Josephine Perry of Marshall, whose term expires on July 1, 2020.

The first meeting is to select the chair of the new board.  The new board replaces the former State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors, Arkansas Cemetery Board, and Burial Association Board which were disbanded on June 30, 2018.