N.Y. Public Health Law § 3455: Violations; prosecutions

§ 3455. Violations; prosecutions. 1. Any person who shall:

(a) obtain or attempt to obtain or aid in obtaining any license or

certificate under this article by any false or fraudulent statement or

representation; or,

(b) practice as a funeral director, undertaker or embalmer without

having been issued a license or without having registered as required by

this article; or,

(c) being a funeral director, undertaker, or embalmer, aid and abet an

unlicensed person to practice funeral directing, undertaking, and

embalming; or,

(d) hold himself out as licensed or able to practice or as practicing

or entitled to practice without conformity to the requirements of this

article; or,

(e) otherwise violate or neglect to comply with any of the provisions

of this article; or,

(f) being a funeral director, undertaker or embalmer, or registered

resident, knowingly give, sell, permit to be sold, offer for sale or

display for sale, other than for purposes within the general scope of

their activities as a licensed funeral director, undertaker or embalmer,

or registered resident, embalming fluid to another person with actual

knowledge that such other person is not a licensed funeral director,

undertaker or embalmer, or registered resident, or entity authorized to

perform embalming activities under section thirty-four hundred twenty of

this article or activities described in article forty-two of this

chapter; or

(g) practice as a funeral director, undertaker or embalmer, while his

license is revoked or suspended, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and

shall, on conviction, for each and every offense be punished by a fine

of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars,

or by imprisonment for a term of not less than thirty days and not more

than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and for a second

offense shall be punishable by both such fine and imprisonment.

2. All courts of special sessions within their respective territorial

jurisdictions are hereby empowered to hear, try and determine such

crimes without indictment and to impose in full the punishments of fines

and imprisonments herein prescribed.

3. The attorney general of the state shall have the power to prosecute

in any county of the state any violation of this article; such

prosecution may be instituted by him in his discretion or after

complaint made to him by any person, provided, however, that nothing in

this section shall be interpreted to prevent or impede the prosecution

of such proceedings by the district attorney of any county in which the

offense is committed when such proceedings have been instituted by him.

4. (a) In any prosecution or hearing hereunder it shall be necessary

to prove only a single act prohibited by law or a single holding out or

attempt, without having to prove a general course of conduct, in order

to constitute a violation.

(b) The display, publication or dissemination by any person of an

advertisement, card, sign or any other representation bearing a name,

designation or description as a practitioner of funeral directing,

undertaking, or embalming, in any manner or by implication, shall be

presumptive evidence of a holding out of such practice by such person.

5. All violations of this article when reported to the department and

duly substantiated by affidavits, or other satisfactory evidence, shall

be investigated and, if the report is found to be substantiated, the

department shall report such violations to the attorney general and

request prompt prosecution.