In what certainly comes as no surprise, the Georgia Board of Funeral Service officially suspended the licenses of Chris Johnson, the embattled former funeral director in Douglas who has been charged with over 30 felonies after 18 decomposing bodies were found in the Johnson Funeral and Cremation Services building in October while law enforcement officers were serving an eviction notice. The board suspended Johnson’s licenses at a meeting in December.
According to the order of suspension, Johnson’s alleged mishandling of the bodies constitutes “willful malpractice or gross neglect in the practice of embalming, funeral directing, or cremating.” The order also states that Johnson “made numerous misleading, deceptive, untrue, or fraudulent representations in the practice of funeral directing.”
The order cites as evidence of Johnson’s alleged misdeeds the 17 charges of abuse of a dead body from October; the three felony charges for violation of vital records registration in November; another felony warrant from November, theft by taking; and the fact that many of the remains at the funeral home had not been identified and more victims were expected (since this order was filed, the remains have all been identified).
The filing concludes that the board finds Johnson’s “continued practice as a funeral director and embalmer poses a threat to the public health, safety, and welfare and imperatively requires emergency action and hereby orders that [Johnson’s] license to practice funeral directing and embalming in the State of Georgia are . . .suspended.”
Johnson was arrested on October 27, 2024. Last week, he appeared in court for a bond hearing but was denied bond. He remains incarcerated.