- There is established within the state general fund a cemetery consumer protection account. All funds received by the commissioner under this section shall be deposited into the account and held solely for the purposes of this section.
- Moneys within the account shall be invested by the state treasurer in accordance with § 9-4-603 for the sole benefit of the account.
- No renewal of a certificate of registration shall be issued unless the applicant pays, in addition to the renewal fee, a consumer protection fee of twenty dollars ($20.00) for every pre-need sales contract entered into during the preceding renewal period, except that the applicant shall not have to pay the consumer protection fee on any pre-need sales contract entered into that was subsequently cancelled prior to the applicant’s request for renewal of a certificate of registration. If the pre-need sales contract covers both cemetery merchandise and funeral merchandise as defined in § 62-5-403, then the cemetery company shall pay only one (1) consumer protection fee for the contract, which shall be credited to the cemetery consumer protection account.
- One-half (½) of the funds received pursuant to this section shall be used to fund the cemetery registration program, and one-half (½) of the funds received pursuant to this section shall be used to fund any receivership action initiated by the commissioner against a cemetery due to a deficiency in the cemetery’s improvement care or pre-need merchandise and services trust fund.