[R.O. 2008 § 630.010; Ord. No. 1217 § 2, 2-1-2010; Ord. No. 1218 § 1, 4-5-2010]
The scope of this Chapter is to enhance the public health and prevent the entrance of infectious disease.
[R.O. 2008 § 630.020; Ord. No. 1217 § 2, 2-1-2010; Ord. No. 1218 § 1, 4-5-2010]
As used in this Chapter, the following terms shall have these prescribed meanings:
BODY PIERCING
The perforation of human tissue other than an ear for non-medical purpose.
BRANDING
A permanent mark made on human tissue by burning with a hot iron or other instrument.
MINOR
A person under the age of eighteen (18).
OFFICIAL
The Building Official.
OPERATOR
A person who practices the art of tattooing licensed by the State of Missouri.
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.
TATTOO ESTABLISHMENT
Any place or facility where the art of tattooing is performed.
[R.O. 2008 § 630.025; Ord. No. 1217 § 2, 2-1-2010; Ord. No. 1218 § 1, 4-5-2010]
A. 
No person shall operate a tattoo shop within the corporate limits of the City without first obtaining a license from the Director of the Division of Professional Registration from the State of Missouri and without first obtaining a merchant license from the City Clerk paying all taxes, if any, due to the City and complying with the City Code and all rules and regulations of the City. All licenses shall be posted in public view on the premises.
B. 
No permit shall be issued permitting the operation of any tattoo establishment within five hundred (500) feet of any school building; except, however, this restriction shall not apply to the issuance of a permit for an establishment already in operation at the time this Chapter becomes effective.
C. 
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, accompanied by a statement signed by the applicant to the effect that the violated provision of this Chapter has been conformed with, the Building Official shall make a re-inspection and thereafter as many additional re-inspections as he or she may deem necessary to assure himself or herself that the applicant is again complying with requirements of this Chapter and if in case the findings indicate compliance, shall reinstate the permit.
D. 
Prior to receiving a license or renewal of license, the operator shall furnish the Chief of Police with a written statement from a licensed physician that he/she and all employees engaged in tattooing are free of communicable disease and have been vaccinated to the extent possible against all types of hepatitis.
[R.O. 2008 § 630.060; Ord. No. 1217 § 2, 2-1-2010; Ord. No. 1218 § 1, 4-5-2010]
A. 
If, at any time, the City advises the operator of a tattooing shop that said operator is in violation of the health and sanitary provisions provided for herein, the City shall immediately suspend said operator's license until such time as the operator is offered an opportunity to respond to the City's finding. Such opportunity to respond must be granted within five (5) days of the date of suspension. Said opportunity to respond may be before the Board of Aldermen. Said operator may be represented at said opportunity to respond by a representative, in person or both.
B. 
Any person maintaining, conducting, operating or managing any tattooing establishment must comply with the following regulations:
1. 
General Regulations.
a. 
No tattoo shall be administered to any person less than eighteen (18) years of age unless such person obtains the prior written informed consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian. 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 body piercing on the minor or in the presence of an employee or agent of such person. Where there is doubt about such age, the tattooist will obtain proof of age before the tattoo procedure is done. Reasonable reliance on any State-approved identification shall be a defense to any action for a violation of this provision.
b. 
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 for a period of three (3) years.
c. 
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.
d. 
Tattoos shall 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 or alcohol.
e. 
Written instructions regarding the proper care of the tattooed skin as a precaution against infections shall be provided to each patron following the tattoo procedure.
f. 
The regulation 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 by a tattoo operator to perform a tattoo removal procedure shall result in the immediate suspension of the license and a show cause hearing as to why the license should not be revoked. The above procedure shall not preclude prosecution of the tattoo operator during the same period of suspension.
g. 
No person under the age of eighteen (18) shall tattoo, brand or perform body piercing on another person.
[R.O. 2008 § 630.075; Ord. No. 1217 § 2, 2-1-2010; Ord. No. 1218 § 1, 4-5-2010]
A. 
No person shall perform branding on a minor unless such person obtains the prior written informed consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian. 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 body piercing on the minor or in the presence of an employee or agent of such person.
B. 
Any person who shall violate the provisions of this Section shall be deemed guilty of an ordinance violation.
[R.O. 2008 § 630.080; Ord. No. 1217 § 2, 2-1-2010; Ord. No. 1218 § 1, 4-5-2010]
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 shall be provided.
C. 
All tattoo parlors shall be well lit in all cleaning and working areas.
D. 
All tattoo parlors shall have ventilation as required applicable ordinances/rules and regulations of the City.
E. 
All tattoo parlors shall be of sufficient size to accommodate required equipment and business done therein.
F. 
Floors, walls and ceilings 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. 
Areas or rooms where tattooing is done shall be separated from the rest of the building by walls and/or partitions. The building and premises shall be kept in a clean and sanitary condition at all times and kept free from all health hazards.
J. 
The Building Official shall be permitted access to all areas of the premises and records during regular business hours.
[R.O. 2008 § 630.090; Ord. No. 1217 § 2, 2-1-2010; Ord. No. 1218 § 1, 4-5-2010]
A. 
General Requirements. All ink used in tattooing shall be sterile and of a type recommended for tattooing.
B. 
Containers. Ink shall be in individual containers and not reused from one patient to another. No large containers of ink or color materials shall be used. Instead, small color capsules shall be used to preclude or mitigate against the possibility of contamination of sterile items for each patron and be discarded after use.
C. 
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. Needles shall be disposable and shall be discarded after one (1) use by breaking or otherwise totally destroying said disposable needles. 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 Celsius (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 Celsius (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.
3. 
All acetate tattoo stencils shall be cleaned with seventy percent (70%) isopropyl alcohol between customers or individual transfers of tattoo (incisions shall be used once and discarded).
[R.O. 2008 § 630.100; Ord. No. 1217 § 2, 2-1-2010; Ord. No. 1218 § 1, 4-5-2010]
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 postural 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. 
All tattoo operators shall wear new disposable gloves during each tattoo procedure, which gloves shall be changed after each tattoo procedure.
E. 
The tattoo operator shall wear a clean and easily cleanable smock while administering the tattoo procedure.
F. 
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.
G. 
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.
H. 
Individual razor blades shall be used when the customer is shaved and razor then disinfected and prepared as in Subsection 630.090(C) between each use.
I. 
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 630.100(C) before resuming the tattoo procedure.
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. 2008 § 630.110; Ord. No. 1217 § 2, 2-1-2010; Ord. No. 1218 § 1, 4-5-2010]
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 hereunder shall be deemed guilty of an ordinance violation and upon conviction thereof shall be punished as set forth in Chapter 100, Article III, of this Code.
[R.O. 2008 § 630.120; Ord. No. 1217 § 2, 2-1-2010; Ord. No. 1218 § 1, 4-5-2010]
No license for operating a tattoo establishment shall be issued when the issuance thereof would increase the number of such licenses outstanding and in force at that time to more than two (2) per three thousand seven hundred (3,700) residents within the City, according to the last decennial census of the United States.