Florida lawmakers to streamline investigations after Jacksonville Funeral Home Director’s arrest

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Just eleven days after the arrest of a local funeral home director who has been charged with mishandling human remains and funds at Marion Graham Mortuaries, Florida lawmakers are looking at ways to prevent similar situations going forward.

READ: Funeral director accused of mishandling bodies denied bond by Duval County judge

Funeral Director Elliot Maurice Graham is facing felony charges for grand theft and fraud, along with five misdemeanor counts for improper preservation of a human body.

Last week, Action News Jax spoke with Johnnie Jackson, who said his wife’s remains were among those recovered by state investigators at Graham’s funeral home.

Investigators suspect the home had been abandoned for months.

“It’s sad. He gave me something that wasn’t even my wife,” said Jackson.

Now, less than two weeks after Graham’s arrest, state lawmakers are already looking to take action.

“We had a very unfortunate set of circumstances in Jacksonville where a funeral home was abandoned,” said Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis.

Patronis testified Tuesday morning in support of an amendment tagged onto a bill making its way through the legislature.

The amendment would make it easier for the Department of Financial Services to recover human remains from a mortuary that has been abandoned.

Because his agency was initially only able to charge Graham with misdemeanors, Patronis said investigators’ ability to enter the funeral home was delayed, until they were able to tag on the felony changes.

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“It was unfortunate and those families shouldn’t have had to wait one single minute to be able to have their situation addressed,” said Patronis.

The amendment allows for the department to declare an emergency and enter a funeral home without delay.

State Representative Angie Nixon (D-Jacksonville), who represents the district where Graham ran his funeral home, told Action News Jax she’s happy to see lawmakers addressing the issue.

“Those are people’s loved ones and they need to be treated with dignity and respect even in their death,” said Nixon.

The legislation still has one more stop in both chambers.

The CFO’s Office told Action News Jax it expects the funeral home amendment to be tagged onto the House version in the bill’s final committee stop.

A hearing date has not yet been scheduled.

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