[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:
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.
Any person who actually performs the work of tattooing.
Any person who controls, operates, conducts, or manages any tattoo
establishment, whether actually performing the work of tattooing or not.
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or when such permit previously issued has been revoked or suspended, or who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.
No tattoo operator or tattoo artist shall tattoo on any person any obscene
word, phrase, or design.
No tattoo operator or artist shall remove or attempt to remove any tattoo.
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.
Adequate cabinets for the storage of instruments, dyes, carbon, and
stencils shall be provided for each operator and shall be maintained in a
sanitary condition.
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.
Tattoo parlors must have adequate light and ventilation, and all walls
and ceilings shall be painted a light color and properly maintained.
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 stencil for transferring the design to the skin shall be thoroughly
cleaned and rinsed in an approved germicidal solution after each use.
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.
