[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Hillsville 8-11-2003. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Amusements — See Ch. 38.
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
TATTOO
To mark or color the skin by pricking in coloring matter so as to form indelible marks or figures or by the productions of scars.
TATTOO ARTIST
Any person who actually performs the work of tattooing.
TATTOO OPERATOR
Any person who controls, operates, conducts, or manages any tattoo establishment, whether actually performing the work of tattooing or not.
TATTOO PARLOR
Any room or space where tattooing is practiced or where the business of tattooing is conducted or any part thereof.
Any person who shall conduct a tattoo parlor or engage in business as a tattoo operator or tattoo artist without first securing a permit therefor, or when such permit previously issued has been revoked or suspended, or who shall violate any of the other provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor. The Director of Public Health shall revoke the permit of any person who shall be convicted on two separate occasions within a twelve-month period of violating any of the provisions of this chapter.
Each tattoo artist shall have an annual physical examination, reported on a form to be prescribed by the Department of Public Health, which physical examination shall include an x-ray of the chest and such other laboratory tests as may be deemed necessary by the Department of Public Health. A report of the physical examination and laboratory tests shall be presented with the application for each permit for a tattoo parlor or for any renewal thereof. No persons shall engage in tattooing as a tattoo artist while in the communicable state of any disease, including the common cold.
Proper records for each patron or customer shall be kept and maintained by the tattoo operator of each tattoo parlor, which record shall include the patron or customer’s name, address, date, and signature of patron or customer. All records shall be available for inspection upon request of Department of Public Health.
No tattoo operator or tattoo artist shall tattoo any person who is under the age of 18 unless such person shall present to the tattoo operator or artist notarized consent to such tattooing from a parent or guardian of such person. In this event, the notarized consent shall be attached to and become a part of the records referred to in § 142-4.
Each tattooing parlor shall have an operating room, which operating room shall be separate and apart from a waiting room or such other rooms as may be used. Patrons or customers shall be tattooed only in such operating room. The operating room shall be equipped with hot and cold running water, together with such sinks and basins as may be necessary. Sufficient toilet, urinal, and handwashing facilities shall be accessible to customers, operators, and artists within the tattoo parlor.
There shall be available within the tattoo parlor adequate hot and cold running water, soap, approved germicidal solution, and individual hand brushes and fingernail files for each tattoo artist. Each tattoo artist shall clean his fingernails with an individual file which has been soaked in germicidal solution after each use, wash his hands with soap and hot water, using an individual hand brush, and thoroughly rinse his hands in a germicidal solution to be approved by the Department of Public Health before working on each patron or customer. An unused individual paper towel or napkin shall be used for drying the tattoo artist's hands after rinsing. Each tattoo artist shall wear a new set of sterile rubber gloves and a clean gown or coat while actually engaged in tattooing.
All flooring within tattoo parlors shall be of impervious material and shall be at all times maintained in a clean condition. The tattoo parlor shall have proper facilities for the disposition of waste material. Instruments and materials used in the tattoo parlor must be disposed of in accordance with all medical standards and in compliance with all local, state and federal requirements.
Printed or mimeographed instructions, approved by the Director of Public Health, shall be given to each patron or customer on the care of the skin after tattooing as a precaution to prevent infection after each tattooing. A copy of these instructions shall also be posted in a conspicuous place in the tattoo parlor, clearly visible to the person being tattooed.
When it is necessary to shave the area to be tattooed, a new blade for each patron shall be used when a safety razor is employed, and the permanent parts of such safety razor shall be treated as set forth in this section for the treatment of a straight razor. If a straight razor is used, it shall be cleansed with soap and water, rinsed in clean water, and then sterilized by being immersed for 15 minutes in an approved germicidal solution, or by boiling for a period of at least five minutes before the razor is used again on another person. After shaving the area to be tattooed, such area shall be cleaned with an approved germicidal solution in a sanitary manner before the design is placed on the skin.
The excess dye originally applied to the skin shall be removed with individual sterile gauze or sterile cotton only. The area tattooed shall then be allowed to dry and the entire area covered with a piece of sterile gauze only, which may in turn be covered with a piece of tissue and fastened with adhesive.
A sterile set of needles must be used for each patron or customer. Needles used in tattooing shall be sterilized by being placed in boiling water for a period of at least five minutes, shaken dry and, if not immediately used, stored in sterile containers. The open end of the needle tube of the tattooing machine shall be cleaned and sterilized in a similar manner before each use.
Each tattoo parlor shall be equipped with a sterilizing device maintained in a safe and effective working order and which is to be approved by the Director of Public Health.
No person shall operate a tattoo parlor, or engage in the practice or business of tattooing as a tattoo operator or as a tattoo artist, unless such person shall first secure a permit from the Director of Public Health or his duly authorized assistant. Applications for any such permit shall be made in writing on a form prescribed by the Director of Public Health, wherein the applicant shall agree to conform to all ordinances, rules and regulations governing such places now in effect or as subsequently enacted, and to permit such examination and inspections as may be deemed necessary by the Director of Public Health. Before such permit is granted, it shall be the duty of the Health Officer to cause an inspection to be made of the premises or tattoo parlor in which the business is to be conducted and to refuse the permit if the condition of the premises, its equipment, or the health of the applicant shall not conform to the requirements of this chapter, but if the same do conform to the requirements of this chapter, the Director of Public Health shall issue the permit requested. It will be the further duty of the Health Officer to cause inspections to be made from time to time of all tattoo parlors and the equipment thereof, and if the place of business is not maintained, conducted or operated in conformity with the requirements of this chapter, as now enacted or as subsequently amended, then the Director of Public Health may suspend the permit of the operator or artist until the tattoo parlor and the operation thereof is made to conform to the requirements of this chapter.
All permits issued pursuant to this chapter shall, unless sooner revoked, expire on September 30 following their date of issue. Applications for the renewal of permits shall be made on or before September 1 following their date of issue, and the requirements for the renewal thereof shall be the same as for new permits, as set forth in this chapter. Tattoo parlors in operation as of the effective date of this chapter shall have a period of 180 days to meet the requirements herein set forth.
All permits granted shall be issued in the name of the individual person applying therefor, shall give the location of the tattoo parlor where the applicant will operate, and shall not be transferable.