Until last summer, Coloradans who wanted to learn more about problems inspectors found at funeral homes could get copies of their reports. The documents would reveal whether refrigerators storing bodies were set at the correct temperature, whether the facility was sanitary, whether or not workers had the proper equipment and if records were properly maintained.
But state regulators say the legislature removed the public鈥檚 access to funeral home inspection reports last yearfake ashes and mishandled remains.
The state鈥檚 new policy has made inspection reports inaccessible to the public, even as Colorado ramps up efforts to hire inspectors, increase funeral home inspections and initiate a new policy to inspect every facility at least once a year.
It will cost an estimated $390,000 to increase the frequency of the inspections this year.
Shelia Canfield-Jones, who said the FBI informed her in 2023 that the Return to Nature funeral home in southern Colorado gave her powdered concrete instead of her daughter鈥檚 cremated remains, called the loss of access to inspection reports 鈥渨rong.鈥�
She added the public should have access to the records and such a change is 鈥渄esigned to protect the industry from bad publicity.鈥�
鈥淧eople need to be more aware of what (funeral homes) are doing,鈥� she said last week after being told the state was withholding inspection reports. 鈥淚t just puts in another problem of trust. What are they hiding?鈥�
She said the idea of making funeral home inspection reports private never came up during her discussions about the bill last year with lawmakers or state regulators.
鈥淲e were told there would be transparency,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e were told we would be able to see these things.鈥�
Transparency advocates also have concerns.
鈥淲ho is being served by making this information confidential?,鈥� Jeff Roberts of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition asked in an interview last week. 鈥淚t's not the public, it's not people who are interested in knowing what happens to the remains of their loved ones.鈥�
A quiet tweak
In Senate Bill 24-173, lawmakers deleted a statute that previously said records of funeral homes鈥� registrations and disciplinary proceedings must be open to public inspection.
They also exempted records of funeral home 鈥渓icensing actions鈥� from the Colorado Open Records Act.
KUNC 暗黑爆料 found no record of these changes being raised or discussed publicly at hearings for the bill. They were also not included in the summary of the bill.
KUNC 暗黑爆料 discovered the state was blocking access to funeral home records last month after requesting inspection reports for some facilities in northern Colorado that had recently been disciplined.
The state denied the open records request, citing the statute lawmakers changed in Senate Bill 24-173.
Sam Delp, the director of the state office charged with regulating funeral homes, said in an interview following the records denial he supported the change from the legislation. He said the inspection reports are 鈥渘ot meant to be shaming.鈥�
鈥淭hey're not meant to be in any way derogatory for the facilities, they are tools the facilities can use to make sure that they鈥檙e complying with the statute,鈥� Delp said.
Delp also raised concerns about sensitive information being included in an inspection report, including photographs of remains.
When asked how the public can learn more about funeral homes if they can鈥檛 access inspection reports, Delp said residents can call the funeral homes directly. He also noted that final records of disciplinary action, including letters of admonition, remain public.
鈥淚 think that someone who is wanting to do business with that facility, certainly could ask them about it,鈥� he said.
But Canfield-Jones, the victim of recent funeral home misconduct, raised concerns about that option.
鈥淎re they going to be honest? You don鈥檛 know that,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he problem is, we don鈥檛 know. You want to assume that all funeral homes are nice and wonderful and are going to take care of everything and give you the right information. There鈥檚 nothing legally that makes them have to talk to you at all about their problems, or inspections.鈥�
Canfield-Jones said she welcomed the other changes in the bill, including licensing professionals in the industry and increasing inspections.
"We're going in the right direction," she said.
A leader in the funeral home industry said Tuesday that funeral home directors didn鈥檛 ask lawmakers to make inspection records private.
Matt Whaley, the president of the Colorado Funeral Directors Association, said he supports the public release of inspection reports.
鈥淲hy not? I think transparency is good,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want them to articulate files of like embalming reports or things like that鈥ut that type of transparency, I鈥檓 fine with that.鈥�
Meanwhile, the two lead sponsors of the bill to tighten funeral home regulations couldn鈥檛 explain last month where the changes in their bill to funeral home record policy originated.
They said they didn鈥檛 intend for their bill to remove public access to the inspection reports.
Lawmakers surprised
State Rep. Matt Soper, R-Delta, and State Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Avon, sponsored the bill to tighten regulations on the funeral home industry because many of their constituents have been affected by some of the state鈥檚 biggest funeral home scandals.
鈥淭his bipartisan bill that we are introducing today will finally create the oversight that Colorado families deserve,鈥� Roberts said in March of last year as he introduced the bill standing next to Canfield-Jones.
He said last month he had no intent of the bill removing access to inspection reports.
鈥淚 think there should be some level of public access, as long as it protects personal details about bodies or people that are within that facility,鈥� he said.
Soper also said he didn鈥檛 know about the change.
鈥淣owhere during the legislative conversation did it come up that we were going to impact Colorado Open Records Act or in any ways frustrate the ability for the public to obtain what would otherwise be a public record,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 see this as an area that definitely I would look to change, because I do believe the public needs to have the ability to see what otherwise would be considered a public report.鈥�
The lawmakers also questioned whether regulators should be using their bill to block inspection reports.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if that鈥檚 the strongest provision for (state regulators) to hang their hat on,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f that鈥檚 what they鈥檙e saying for why they aren't going to release any record, I do have problems with that, because I do believe we live in a very transparent democracy, or at least, that should be the goal.鈥�
