Pall bearers carry a coffin at a funeral. (Photo by
Philippe Lissac /GOPDONG/Getty Images)
An Iowa funeral home director has been fined $350 for allegedly failing to properly disclose past disciplinary actions.
Last year, the Iowa Board of Mortuary Science charged Ryan M. Fredregill of Baxter with unethical conduct for failing to properly disclose past disciplinary actions when filling out a board application to serve as a preceptor, or professional mentor for unlicensed trainees.
The board alleged that on his 2022 application, Fredregill answered “no” to the question, “Has there been any disciplinary action against your funeral director’s license within the past five years?”
In 2019, three years before that application was filled out, the board publicly cited and warned Fredregill for performing a cremation without first completing a cremation-authorization form required by state regulations.
Fredregill says the board, which reviewed and approved his preceptor application, should have checked its own disciplinary files to verify the accuracy of what he reported. He said his answer on the application was based on a 2018 letter from the board that indicated there were “zero issues” pertaining to his license at that point.
He told the Iowa Capital Dispatch he considered appealing the $350 fine by taking the matter to court. “But my attorney says I can’t win against the monkey circus of these judges that review the state licensing cases,” Fredregill said. “Whatever these state boards say, the judges never rule against them.”
State records show that in 2017, Fredregill and the Fredregill Family Funeral Home entered into a regulatory agreement with the Iowa Insurance Commissioner. The agreement indicates that after Fredregill and the funeral home had acquired a related company called Fredregill Enterprises, they failed to assume the obligations of the “pre-need” contracts that Fredregill Enterprises sold to consumers for funeral services.
As part of the regulatory agreement, Fredregill agreed to pay a $500 civil penalty, apply for reinstatement of his license to act as a pre-need sales agent, and assume ownership of Fredregill Enterprises’ pre-need contracts while providing all of the services specified in those contracts.
In 2014, the Iowa Insurance Commission alleged Fredregill failed to file with the state the annual reports he was required to complete as a licensed seller of pre-need contracts for funeral services. The commission suspended Fredregill’s license for 30 days.