A judge recommended last week that the Texas Funeral Service Commission give a Houston-area Army veteran his funeral director license after the commission made him give it up two years ago 鈥� a decision two of the commission's former executive directors and other fired staff have used to criticize the embattled state agency.
Administrative Law Judge Robert Pemberton with the State Office of Administrative Hearings ruled Tuesday that the commission violated former Army Sgt. Desaray Wilson鈥檚 due process rights by denying his latest application last September for a funeral director license.
鈥淭his was the verdict and the conclusion that I prayed for and that I looked forward to,鈥� Wilson said in an interview with 四虎影院 Thursday. 鈥淚 don't think it's a loss to the funeral service commission, because you gained another licensed professional.鈥�
Wilson is the president and CEO of Baytown Memorial Funeral Home and Cremations, but he has hired a licensed funeral director, he said.
SOAH鈥檚 ruling is a proposed decision, meaning it鈥檚 up to TFSC commissioners to decide whether to proceed according to the ruling or find 鈥済ood cause鈥� to make a different decision.
Wilson said the Texas Attorney General鈥檚 Office, which represents the commission in litigation, immediately made clear to him their intention to challenge the decision. 四虎影院 reached out to TFSC about how it plans to move forward and will update this story with any response.
allows military veterans鈥� service, training or education to count toward the requirements for getting an occupational license. But in the funeral industry, anyone who wants a license still has to go to mortuary science school.
Wilson did not, but he did serve as a mortuary affairs specialist for the Army in Dover, Delaware, for about three years. According to court records, he performed death care services for more than 3,000 service members' bodies during U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The funeral commission allowed Wilson to take a national board exam to obtain his funeral director license in 2023, he said, something he鈥檇 been trying to accomplish for more than a decade. At the direction of former executive director James White, the commission waived the mortuary school requirement for Wilson and gave him a license because of his military experience.
A few months later, White said he misinterpreted the law in giving Wilson a license, according to the veteran. White asked Wilson to relinquish his license or face administrative penalties, which would get Wilson鈥檚 license taken away and prevent him from reapplying for another five years.
But White, a former state representative and a veteran himself, later reversed course again. In a strongly worded 2023 letter to TFSC鈥檚 then-chair Larry Allen, White was 鈥渂egging, pleading, and recommending that you direct me to restore the licensure status of Desaray Wilson.鈥�
White highlighted Wilson's death care experience and said granting Wilson a license would be consistent with state law. He also said the commission's general counsel gave poor legal advice and the agency has a pattern of making it harder for veterans to obtain funeral service licenses.
鈥淎s a former member of the Texas House of Representatives, who has voted on this legislation our approach is legally bankrupt," White wrote. "As a Veteran, this is appalling."
Wilson once again applied for his license in September 2024, and it was denied in May in a letter signed by fired executive director Scott Bingaman. He appealed to SOAH, which handles disputes involving state agencies.
Bingaman, who became executive director after White, cited the handling of Wilson鈥檚 case as one of the commission鈥檚 shortcomings he wrote to commissioners in June the day before his firing, pointing to White鈥檚 criticism of the agency.
White has previously said he believes Bingaman took his letter out of context and misinterpreted the tone, but White declined to comment on Wilson鈥檚 case at the time. Both White and Bingaman declined to comment on the record for this story.
Bingaman鈥檚 firing was one of six at TFSC this summer. At least three of those people supported Bingaman鈥檚 accusations of unethical behavior and mismanagement within the commission that he outlined in his letter, and two were sued 鈥� then nonsuited 鈥� for allegedly violating attorney-client privilege by speaking about their firings.
That includes Christopher Burnett, a former staff attorney among those fired, who said Wilson鈥檚 situation was one of the first things that rubbed him the wrong way when he started at the commission in May.
鈥淒esaray, from what I've seen, met every single possible criteria for getting a non-traditional license,鈥� Burnett said. 鈥淭o have something granted and then be told that you have to surrender it or we're going to take enforcement action against you 鈥� I think that's official oppression.鈥�
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