The Circuit Court of Dent County stayed a revocation on Oct. 20 for the entity licenses of James and Gahr Mortuary and the individual licenses of owners Don and Connie James.

James and Gahr Mortuary’s license for locations in Rolla, St. James and Salem were revoked by the State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors on Sept. 22 as part of a disciplinary order. According to the license revocation,  James and Gahr Mortuary violated Missouri laws related to the management of preneed contracts and funds, failure to maintain a business license at their Salem location and failure to adhere to the terms of a probationary agreement with the state board.

With the license revocation on hold, the funeral establishments are able to continue operating.

According to the motion to stay, filed by Judge Craig Hellmann on Oct. 20,  James and Gahr Mortuary can continue to operate under the condition that  a new funeral director be appointed to direct operations at all three locations.

“The Court finds a stay of the Board’s disciplinary order is proper upon the condition the funeral homes be placed under the management of a newly designated Funeral Director-in-Charge (FDIC) who shall oversee and manage the day-to-day business operations of petitioners. The newly designated FDIC shall be a licensee who is approved by the Board,” the motion said.

Another compulsory of the disciplinary action, which would have required Donn and Connie James to transfer existing preneed contracts to another Missouri-licensed seller, has also been put on hold. That means that the businesses’ existing preneed contracts can remain in place while the disciplinary requirement is on hold.

The stay order will remain in place until the Circuit Court of Dent County decides on Donn and Connie James’ appeal of the board’s disciplinary order.

Chris Hendrix, owner and funeral director at Wilson Mortuary in Salem, said that since James and Gahr Mortuary’s licenses were revoked a “healthy number” of James and Gahr Mortuary’s preneed clients had made the decision to transfer their contracts to Wilson Mortuary.

Hendrix also encouraged preneed clients, no matter who their contract is with, to educate themselves on the terms of their contract and ensure the funds associated with their contract are secure.

In an Oct. 1 Facebook post, James and Gahr Mortuary announced that the business will continue operating with Jeff Hilke serving as their new funeral director and embalmer. Hilke, who has worked in the industry for more than 30 years, also serves in the same role at Millard Family Chapels, which operates locations in Columbia, Jefferson City, Boonville, Westphalia, Chamois, Holts Summit, Russellville and Linn.

James and Gahr said in the post “(Hilke) will be supported by his colleagues at Millard Family Chapels in Jefferson City. The support and additional resources provided by the Millard family will allow James and Gahr Funeral Homes to build upon and enhance the products and services the James family has provided to local families for more than 50 years.”

Donn and Connie James appealed the state board’s decision in a petition for judicial review and a motion to stay the disciplinary action, both filed on Sept. 28 in Dent County. The petition argues that the state board’s findings of a probation violation are not supported by substantial evidence. It claims that the revocation of all licenses associated with James and Gahr Mortuary was an abuse of discretion when lesser sanctions such as extended probation, censure or suspension could have been issued.

The petition also argues that the state board had authority to act on its own only if James and Gahr violated specific disciplinary conditions they had previously agreed to in an Oct. 16, 2025, probation settlement.

“The imposition of the most severe available sanctions across all licenses, disproportionate to the violations found and without adequate consideration of lesser measures, was arbitrary, unreasonable and an abuse of discretion. The order should be reversed, or the matter remanded for imposition of a proportionate sanction,” the petition read.

James and Gahr Mortuary was contacted for comment but could not be reached as of The Saint James Press’ publication deadline.