Inspection Backlog, Complaints Trouble Funeral Homes

ST. PAUL (AP) - State officials are trying to get a handle on a growing number of complaints at funeral homes.

Minnesota's mortuary regulators have inspected less than half of the funeral homes and crematories across the state in the last two years. They're receiving about one complaint a week from grieving Minnesota families.

No complaint is more egregious than an incident last spring in Edina, where Washburn-McReavy funeral home staff put out the wrong body for a visitation service. The company was fined $18,000 for the incident.

The company says they've made changes to ensure that mistake never happens again.

Gov. Mark Dayton included $374,000 in his budget proposal to boost funeral home inspector staff. The state's mortuary science manager Gil Acevedo says that additional money will help them catch up on inspections.