Texas tattoo licensing laws and adolescent health risks

Tattoo Laws

While tattoo laws are prevalent in a lot of states, in Texas the Department of Health have made it clear that "A tattoo studio or a body piercing studio may not employ a tattooist or a body piercer unless the person is registered with the department under this chapter" (78(R) SB 1317, 2003) and at any time the health department is able to refuse a license or reissue a license on a multitude of grounds that are designed to protect the public. These grounds include, but are not restricted to, "the applicant has been convicted of a violation of this chapter during the two years immediately preceding the filing of the application; (2) three years have not elapsed since the termination, by pardon or otherwise, of a sentence imposed on the applicant for a conviction associated with tattooing or body piercing" (78 (R) SB 1317).

These particularly strict laws on licensing protect the consumer and the general public, especially minors who are most likely to fake parental consent forms, or use fake IDs in order to get body piercings or tattoos. Recent surveys show that "8% to 13% of adolescents between 12 and 18 years of age have a tattoo. Of those who do not, 30% to 50% have considered getting one" and in Texas, adolescents in urban schools from 1993-1995, "8.6% had a tattoo" (Martel, 2002).