[R.O. 2012 § 620.010; Ord. No. 984 § I, 6-5-1995]
As used in this Chapter, the following terms shall have these prescribed meanings:
DIRECTOR
Includes the director or administrator of public health or his/her designee of the Department of Public Health of City of Portageville or the County of New Madrid, Missouri.
OPERATOR
A person who practices the art of tattooing.
PERSON
Any individual, firm or corporation, owner or operator of a tattooing establishment.
TATTOO
One (1) or more of the following:
1. 
An indelible mark made on the body of another person by the insertion of a pigment under the skin; or
2. 
An indelible design made on the body of another person by production of scars other than by branding.
TATTOOING ESTABLISHMENT
Any place or facility where the art of tattooing is performed.
[R.O. 2012 § 620.020; Ord. No. 984 § II, 6-5-1995]
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation owning, controlling or leasing, acting as agent for, conducting, managing or operating any establishment to practice the art of tattooing or to engage in the practice of tattooing without first applying for and receiving a permit in the manner herein provided. No practitioner of tattooing, body piercing or branding shall practice and no establishment in which tattoos, body piercing or brandings are applied shall be operated without a license issued by the Director of the Division of Professional Registration.
[R.O. 2012 § 620.030; Ord. No. 984 § III, 6-5-1995]
Any tattoo establishment, the permit of which has been suspended, may at any time make application for the reinstatement of the permit. Within one (1) week after the receipt of a satisfactory application to the effect that the violated provision of this Chapter has been conformed with, the Director shall make a reinspection and thereafter as many additional reinspections as he/she may deem necessary to assure himself/herself that the applicant is again complying with the requirements of this Chapter and if in case the findings indicate compliance, shall reinstate the permit.
[R.O. 2012 § 620.040; Ord. No. 984 § IV, 6-5-1995]
Upon approval of an application for a permit to engage in the practice of tattooing, the Director shall, upon payment of a license fee hereinafter provided, issue the permit to the designated permittee. Every person engaged in the business of conducting, managing or operating an establishment for the practice of the art of tattooing shall pay a permit fee of three hundred dollars ($300.00) per year or for any portion of the year payable annually in advance to the City of Portageville.
[R.O. 2012 § 620.050; Ord. No. 984 § V, 6-5-1995]
It shall be unlawful for any person to employ an operator in the practice of tattooing without such operator having first secured an operator's card and it shall be unlawful for any person or operator to perform a tattoo procedure who does not possess a valid operator's card. The issuance of the operator's card herein provided shall be subject to the compliance with the regulations and passage of the physical examination required by the rules and regulations of the Director of Public Health. An operator's card shall be granted only on the express condition that it shall be subject to suspension or revocation by the Director upon showing satisfactory to the Director of a violation by the holder of the said operator's card of any rule of the Director or provision of this Chapter or of applicable State law or upon a satisfactory public hearing.
[R.O. 2012 § 620.060; Ord. No. 984 § VI, 6-5-1995]
A permit for tattooing establishment or an operator's card under the provisions of this Chapter may be granted at any time during the year but all permits and operator's cards issued hereunder shall expire on the 31st day of the next succeeding December. Said permit or operator's card shall not be transferable.
[R.O. 2012 § 620.070; Ord. No. 984 § VII, 6-5-1995]
A. 
All permits, operator's cards and regulations of the Director of Public Health shall be posted at all times in a conspicuous place in the establishment.
B. 
Any person maintaining, conducting, operating or managing any tattooing establishment must comply with the following regulations:
1. 
General regulations.
a. 
No person shall knowingly tattoo, brand or perform body piercing on a minor unless such person obtains the prior written informed consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian. The minor's parent or legal guardian shall execute the written informed consent required pursuant to this Subsection in the presence of the person performing the tattooing, branding or body piercing on the minor, or in the presence of an employee or agent of such person. Any person who fraudulently misrepresents himself/herself as a parent is guilty of an ordinance violation.
b. 
No person under the age of eighteen (18) shall tattoo, brand or perform body piercing on another person.
c. 
Before administering a tattoo, the patron must be advised that the tattoo should be considered permanent, that it can be removed only with a surgical procedure and that any effective removal may leave permanent scarring and disfigurement. A written cautionary notice to that effect shall be furnished to and signed by the patron and retained on file at the establishment.
d. 
The skin surface to be tattooed must be free of rash, pimples, infection or recent scar tissue. The patron must be in apparent good health and the skin to be tattooed generally free of all appearances of pathological conditions.
e. 
Tattoos may not be administered to any person under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and the tattooist is charged with the responsibility of making reasonable observation and inquiry to assure himself/herself that the patron is in fact sober and not under the influence of drugs.
f. 
Written instructions approved by the Director of Health regarding the proper care of the tattooed skin as a precaution against infections shall be provided to each patron following the tattoo procedure.
g. 
The regulations herein provided shall in no way be construed to allow nor permit the removal of any tattoo nor shall the tattoo operator perform or attempt to perform any procedure which is intended to remove any tattoo. Any attempt known by the Director of Health by a tattoo operator to perform a tattoo removal procedure shall result in the immediate suspension of the tattoo operator's health permit and a show cause hearing as to why the operator's permit should not be revoked. The above procedure shall not preclude prosecution of the tattoo operator during the same period of permit suspension.
h. 
Prior to receiving an operator's card, the operator shall furnish the Director of Health with a written statement from a licensed physician that he/she is free of communicable disease.
2. 
Premises.
a. 
Premises and equipment must be maintained in a sanitary manner. This includes physical cleanliness as well as antiseptic precautions.
b. 
All tattoo parlors shall be equipped with hot and cold running water. Adequate toilet facilities with soap and towels properly installed and in compliance with applicable ordinances, rules and regulations of the City of Portageville shall be provided.
c. 
All areas in which tattooing is done shall be provided with a minimum of fifty (50) footcandles of light power. A minimum of ten (10) footcandles of light power shall be provided in all other areas.
d. 
All tattoo parlors shall have ventilation as required by applicable ordinances and regulations of the City of Portageville, Missouri.
e. 
All tattoo parlors shall be of sufficient size to accommodate required equipment and business done therein.
f. 
Floors, walls and ceiling shall be clean and in good repair and maintained in a clean condition.
g. 
Adequate equipment and facilities shall be provided for the disposition of cigarette butts and other disposal items.
h. 
All tables and chairs used in the tattooing process shall be constructed of a material allowing easy and thorough cleaning and shall be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition.
i. 
The Director shall be permitted access to all areas of the premises and records at any reasonable time.
3. 
Equipment.
a. 
Individual cups of ink and colors shall be used for each patron and discarded after use.
b. 
Needles and other instruments used in administering the tattoo, including hand pieces, needle bars and razor blade holders, must be thoroughly disinfected, cleaned with soap and water and thoroughly rinsed again after each person and before sterilization.
c. 
Sterilization of equipment may be either by:
(1) 
Dry Heat. At a temperature of three hundred fifty-seven degrees Fahrenheit (357° F.) [one hundred eighty degrees Centigrade (180° C.)] for not less than two (2) hours; or
(2) 
Steam pressure sterilization (autoclave) for a minimum of thirty (30) minutes at two hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit (250° F.) [one hundred twenty-one degrees Centigrade (121° C.)] followed by a drying time of not less than fifteen (15) minutes.
(a) 
To prepare for steam pressure sterilization, each needle shall be flushed with distilled water and left distinctly moist just before the sterilization process is initiated. The tubes containing the needles should rest on their sides in the sterilizer to facilitate air removal and steam contact to each tube and needle.
(b) 
When an autoclave procedure is used, indicator tape or other acceptable test method shall be used to check the effectiveness of sterilization.
(c) 
Records of methods of sterilization together with temperature cycle for each sterilization process shall be kept on file for inspection by the Director.
(d) 
All instruments and needles shall be stored in a closed metal or glass container.
(e) 
All acetate tattoo stencils shall be cleaned with seventy percent (70%) isopropyl alcohol between customers or individual transfers of tattoo designs shall be used once and discarded.
4. 
Minimum Acceptable Aseptic Technique.
a. 
Neither the patron or tattoo operator shall consume or bring food or drink into the tattooing area and shall not smoke during the procedure or in the room(s) where the tattooing takes place.
b. 
The tattoo operator must be free from communicable disease while administering tattoos and present no pustular lesions of the hands or arms.
c. 
Immediately before administering a tattoo, the tattoo operator must thoroughly wash his/her hands in hot water with soap using a short-bristled brush and then dry the hands with a disposable paper towel.
d. 
The tattoo operator shall wear a clean and easily cleanable smock while administering the tattoo procedure.
e. 
The tattoo operator while administering a tattoo shall wear an effective hair restraint, must have clean fingernails and shall in general pay particular attention to his/her personal hygiene.
f. 
The skin surrounding the area where the tattoo is to be placed shall first be washed with a germicidal soap and then shaved with a disposable blade. Following shaving, the skin must be gently scrubbed with seventy percent (70%) isopropyl alcohol using a sterile gauze pad which shall be disposed of after use.
g. 
Individual razor blades shall be used when customer is shaved and razor then disinfected and prepared as in Subsection (B)(3)(b) and (c) between each use.
h. 
During any phase of the tattoo procedure, should the tattoo operator be interrupted for other duties, i.e., answering phone, etc., the tattoo operator shall wash his/her hands as in Subsection (B)(4)(c) before resuming the tattoo procedure.
i. 
The tattoo shall be bandaged with a sterile non-stick type bandage when tattoo is finished.
j. 
All infections resulting from the practice of tattooing shall be reported to the Director by the person owning or operating the tattooing establishment.
[R.O. 2012 § 620.080; Ord. No. 984 § VIII, 6-5-1995]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of this Chapter or fail to comply with any order or regulation made thereunder shall be deemed guilty of an ordinance violation and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine as set out in Section 100.220 of this Code.