S.C. Code Ann. § 39-55-95 – License for operation of cemetery; application; criteria for approval; investigation; notice of denial

(a) No legal entity may engage in the business of operating a cemetery company, except as authorized by this chapter, without first obtaining a license from the board.
(b) Any legal entity wishing to establish a cemetery shall file a written application for authority to do so with the board on forms prescribed and provided by it.
(c) Upon receipt of the application and a nonrefundable filing fee of at least four hundred dollars the board shall cause an investigation to be made to establish the following criteria for approval of the application:
1. (1) The creation of a legal entity to conduct a cemetery business and the proposed financial structure.
2. (2) An irrevocable care and maintenance trust fund agreement must be established and maintained with a trust institution doing business in this State, with an initial deposit of not less than fifteen thousand dollars and a bank cashier's or certified check attached for the amount and payable to the trustee with the trust executed by the applicant and accepted by the trustee, conditioned only upon the approval of the application.
3. (3) A plat of the land to be used for a cemetery showing the county or municipality and the names of roads and access streets or ways.
4. (4) Designation by the legal entity, wishing to establish a cemetery, of a general manager who must be a person having had not less than two years' experience in cemetery business.
5. (5) Development plans sufficient to ensure the community that the cemetery will provide adequate cemetery services and that the property is suitable for use as a cemetery.
(d) The board, after receipt of the investigating report and within ninety days after receipt of the application, shall grant or refuse to grant the authority to organize a cemetery.
(e) If the board intends to deny an application, it shall give written notice to the applicant of its intention to deny. The notice shall state a time and place for a hearing before the board and a summary statement of the reasons for the proposed denial. The notice of intent must be mailed by certified mail to the applicant at the address stated in the application at least fifteen days prior to the scheduled hearing date. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any appeal from the board's decision must be to the circuit court.
(f) If the board intends to grant the authority it shall give written notice that the authority to organize a cemetery has been granted and that a license to operate will be issued upon the completion of the following:
1. (1) Establishment of the irrevocable care and maintenance trust fund and receipt by the board of a certificate from the trust institution certifying receipt of the initial deposit required under this chapter.
2. (2) Development, ready for burial, of not less than two acres, certified by inspection of the board or its representative.
3. (3) A description, by metes and bounds, of the acreage tract of the proposed cemetery, together with evidence, by title insurance policy or certificate or certification by an attorney at law, that the applicant is the owner in fee simple of the tract of land, which must contain not less than thirty acres and that the fee simple title of the tract of not less than thirty acres is free and clear of all encumbrances. In counties with a population of less than thirty-five thousand inhabitants according to the latest official United States census the tract need be only fifteen acres.
4. (4) Submit to the board for its approval a copy of regulations as defined inSection 39-55-125.