Modoc County Municipal Code Ch. 8.60 Tattoo and Body Piercing

The board of supervisors hereby determines that the secure management of body art and body piercing is necessary to protect the public health, welfare and safety. It shall be the duty of the director of environmental health to implement and enforce the provisions of this chapter pursuant to Chapter 7 of Part 15 of Division 104 Section 119305 of the California Health and Safety Code throughout both the incorporated and unincorporated areas of Modoc County.

(Ord. 338 (part), 2008)

The following definitions shall govern in the construction and meaning of this chapter:

"Body art" means tattooing, permanent cosmetics and body piercing.

"Body art operator" means any individual who is a practitioner of tattooing, permanent cosmetics and body piercing, including conducting body art procedures on another individual or technically advising the body art procedures performed by another individual.

"Body piercing" means the creation of an opening in the human body for the purpose of inserting jewelry or other decoration. This includes but is not limited to: lip, tongue, nose or eyebrow. This does not include "ear piercing."

"Contaminated" means the presence, or reasonably anticipated presence, of blood, body fluid or other potentially infectious materials in or on the surface of an item.

"Contaminated waste" means any contaminated material used in body art that is to be disposed of.

"Department" means the Modoc County environmental health.

"Director" means the director of Modoc County environmental health.

"Ear piercing" means the puncturing of the outer perimeter or lobe of the ear with a pre-sterilized single-use stud-and-clasp ear-piercing system following manufacturer's instructions.

"Enforcement officer" means the director or his/her designees.

"Facility" means the place, either residential or commercial, where the act, practice, or business of body art and/or ear piercing is occurring.

"Health officer" means the appointed health officer of the county, and his/her duly authorized representative.

"Permanent cosmetics" means pigments applied to, or under the skin of, a human being for the purpose of permanently changing the color or other appearance of the skin. This includes, but is not limited to: permanent eyeliner, eye shadow, or lip color.

"Person" means any individual, firm or corporation, owner or operator of a tattooing, permanent cosmetics, or body piercing establishment.

"Sanitation" means effective bactericidal and viruscidal treatment of clean equipment surfaces by a process that has been approved by the health officer as being effective in destroying pathogens.

"Sterilization" means the destruction of all living organisms, including spores.

"Tattooing" means to insert pigment under the surface of the skin of a human being by pricking with a needle or otherwise to produce an indelible mark or figure visible through the skin. This shall include permanent cosmetics.

(Ord. 338 (part), 2008)

A. No tattoo shall be applied to any person under eighteen years of age regardless of parental consent.

B. No person under the age of eighteen years of age may receive body piercing unless their parent or guardian accompanies them. The parent or guardian shall have valid picture identification. Nipple and genital piercing is prohibited on minors regardless of parental consent.

C. All body art operators must be a minimum of eighteen years of age.

(Ord. 338 (part), 2008)

A. All facilities that engage in body art shall be approved by the department and be permitted on an annual basis. All permits issued pursuant to this chapter shall be posted by the permittee in a conspicuous place in the permittee's place of business.

B. No facility shall be within eight hundred feet from a public school.

C. All permitted facilities shall be responsible for individuals conducting body art within the permitted facility.

D. All body art facilities shall keep a chronological log of every individual that receives body art services, consisting of the following information:

1. Customer full name;

2. Address;

3. Date of birth;

4. Type of body art received;

5. Date body art received.

E. All body art facilities and facility employees are required to report infections or complications or diseases resulting from body art activity within twenty-four hours to the department.

F. All body art facilities shall be in a permanent location. Temporary and mobile facilities will not be permitted.

(Ord. 338 (part), 2008)

A. The health officer and/or director of environmental health shall approve any individual practicing body art through acceptable application information. All body art practitioners shall be permitted by the department annually and issued a photo identification operators card. Individuals shall be able to present their operators card upon request from an enforcement officer. All body art practitioners shall complete blood borne pathogen training and immunizations approved by the department. All operators' cards shall be present on person when body art procedures are being performed or supervised.

B. No person shall engage in or permit to engage in body art except in a facility permitted and approved by the department.

(Ord. 338 (part), 2008)

A. A permit may be granted for the establishment if it appears to the department that the statements contained in the application are true and that the sanitary conditions prevailing upon the premises comply with:

1. The provisions of this chapter;

2. The provisions of state law;

3. Health officer approval; and

4. Conform to the regulations and policies of the department.

B. The permit may be subject to suspension or revocation by the department upon showing of a violation by the holder of such permit, or person or employee acting with the permit holders consent or authority, of any provision of this chapter or related law of the state of California, or any rule or regulation of the department regulating body art establishments.

C. All body art facilities shall be inspected as the health officer deems appropriate.

(Ord. 338 (part), 2008)

Fees to be paid pursuant to this chapter shall be established by resolution of the Modoc County board of supervisors. All fees shall be paid in the amount stated in the fee resolution at the time of invoice. Failure to pay required fees shall be sufficient cause for the department to temporarily suspend or revoke such facility permit or operator's card.

(Ord. 338 (part), 2008)

Enforcement officers are charged with the enforcement of all provisions of this chapter, and all standards adopted pursuant to it. The enforcement officer may enter at any reasonable time on any and all portions of lands within the county, to inspect, impound, copy records, and secure any samples, photographs, or other evidence from any tattoo, or body art facility or suspected body art facility, for the purpose of enforcing these standards.

(Ord. 338 (part), 2008)

Any person, firm or corporation who violates any of the provisions of this chapter or fails to comply with any order or regulation made hereunder shall be deemed a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not to exceed six months and/or have their permit/s revoked. Each and every day a violation exists shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.

(Ord. 338 (part), 2008)