POWAY -- Facing a state attempt to take away its operating licenses, the mortuary once featured in the A&E reality television show "Family Plots" has decided to fight back.

In April, investigators with the California Department of Consumer Affairs filed a formal complaint against Poway-Bernardo Mortuary, its owner Carl Comer and its former manager Rick Sadler, asking the department's director to revoke funeral home and funeral director licenses held by the three.

The agency's action came after a state inspector made a surprise visit to the business and reported that he discovered it was paying an unlicensed man to embalm bodies.

The mortuary, Comer and Sadler had 15 days to contest the request.

The business, which continues to operate at 13243 Poway Road, is the only funeral home in Poway or Rancho Bernardo. On Friday, Consumer Affairs Department spokesman Kevin Flanagan said the mortuary and Comer have challenged the license revocations.

"There will be a hearing at some point," Flanagan said. "The date is not set yet."

Whether Sadler is trying to hang onto his license as well remained unclear Friday. Flanagan said he believed the former mortuary manager had also asked for a hearing but was unable to say for sure.

A hearing in all likelihood will take place in the San Diego area before an administrative law judge, Flanagan said.

David Morave replaced Sadler as Poway-Bernardo Mortuary's manager in late March. Reached by telephone Friday afternoon, he declined to discuss the state's complaint or the business's response to it.

"I just don't want to make comments on that," he said.

Comer did not immediately respond to a message left for him with Morave. Sadler did not respond to a message left at his home.

Poway-Bernardo Mortuary has been a fixture in this city for 40 years. Television viewers across the country got to know the business when "Family Plots" aired in 2004 and 2005.

The show focused on the daily lives of three sisters who worked at the funeral home alongside their father, Sadler and other employees of the mortuary. Two of the sisters and their father left the business and moved out of state after "Family Plots" went off the air; one sister still works at the mortuary part-time.

Sadler's previous problems with the state became public knowledge around the same time the show premiered. State record show that his past includes a 1986 felony conviction for work-related fraud and a 1995 felony conviction for embezzlement in 1995 that earned him a 16-month prison term.

Sadler and the mortuary also paid several thousand dollars in fines in 2003 after being cited for operating a funeral home without a license, misuse of Poway-Bernardo Mortuary's license, and other violations, according to state records.

Less than a month after the state made its revocation request, the business ran afoul of state regulators for a second time this year after another surprise inspection revealed the mortuary had broken state law by allowing its workers' compensation insurance to lapse from Oct. 1 through Feb. 6. At the time, Comer attributed the problem to mismanagement by Sadler.

The state Department of Industrial Relations fined the mortuary $6,000 for the insurance violation. Department spokesman Dean Fryer said Friday that the entire fine was paid May 24.

"The check was cashed and cleared," he said. "So we're good."

Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.