Certain individuals are required by law to pass a background investigation as part of the licensing process. Background investigations are performed by Board staff.
Who is required to pass a background check?
- Funeral Service Practitioners
- Embalmers
- Preneed Salespersons
- Death Care Consultants
- Apprentice Funeral Service Practitioners and Embalmers
- Intern Apprentices
- Principals of Licensed Facilities*. Principal means a person who has controlling authority over the licensed facility, including but not limited to:
- Managers or other persons who have decision-making authority and whose primary duties include control over the operation of the licensed facility;
- Officers or directors who have some degree of responsibility for the operation of the licensed facility;
- General Partners, limited and joint ventures;
- Sole proprietors;
- Stockholders holding a majority of outstanding shares of stock; and
- Members of a Limited Liability Company.
What information do I need to provide to complete a background check?
- Contact Information used to identify you, such as Name, Date of Birth, Prior Names, Social Security Number, etc.
- 10 Years of Residential History
- 10 Years of Employment History
- Documentation related to any prior convictions or administrative actions, if applicable (see additional information below)
- Verification of any other Professional Licenses that you hold, in Oregon or any other states/jurisdictions
If you are applying for an individual license with OMCB, you will be asked for all of this information as part of the application process.
If you are applying to be a principal of a facility* and you do not already hold an individual license with OMCB, you must submit a Background Information Questionairre as part of your application for a Change in Principal.
What is the Board looking for when they conduct a background check?
If the background check reveals criminal or administrative history, the board may use this information to determine whether or not to issue a license to the applicant.
The Board expects all applicants to complete their applications accurately, completely and honestly. If the background check of an applicant reveals criminal, civil, or administrative history, it is not automatically disqualifying for a license through OMCB. The Board must determine that the history is specifically related to the death care industry in order to deny a license to an applicant. That being said, failure to fully disclose criminal, civil, or administrative history may also cause the Board to deny an application for licensure.
Because of this, we advise all applicants to fully disclose their entire history or risk the denial of their license. We also encourage all facility managers and employers to sufficiently advise their employees to carefully read every portion of the Background Information Questionnaire. The applicant’s career is at stake, and their application, supplemental materials and any verbal statements made to the investigator must be accurate, complete and honest.
Board staff is available and willing to help anyone with their questions regarding the completion of their application before submission. We encourage you to reach out to us as you complete the application process.
Documentation required for Individuals who have Prior Convictions or Administrative Actions:
If you have ever been the subject of any disciplinary action by any licensing agency, court or regulatory board in any state or country, you must provide the following:
- A signed, dated, written statement explaining the circumstances and status of each administrative action or initiation of action;
- All documents regarding the administrative action(s) or initiation of action(s) by any licensing agency, court or regulatory board (including OMCB).
If you have ever been convicted of committing a crime**, whether or not adjudication was withheld, you must provide the following:
- A signed, dated, written statement explaining the circumstances of each incident;
- Police/arrest reports for each incident leading to conviction;
- Court documents showing the charge(s) for which you were convicted and the judgment and imposition of sentence;
- If you entered into diversion or were placed on any kind of probation, including unsupervised probation, documents showing completion of diversion or probation;
- If fees or fines were imposed, documents showing the status of payment of those fees or fines.
*As a policy, the Board does not charge principal fees or conduct background
investigations on the principals of publicly owned cemeteries, i.e., municipal,
county or special tax district cemeteries. However, the Board must be
notified upon any change of manager or other principal. If your local
government does not conduct background checks, you may request that the Board
conduct a background check on the manager or any other principal of this
publicly owned cemetery (except elected officials).
** A "crime" includes a misdemeanor, felony, or military offense (DUI / DUII, DWS Misdemeanor and DWS Felony are criminal offenses.) "Convicted" includes, but is not limited to, having been found guilty by verdict of a judge or jury, having entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or receiving probation, a suspended sentence, or a fine.