FIRST REGULAR SESSION
94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE WASSON.
Read 1st time February 12, 2007 and copies ordered printed.
D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 324.520 and 324.522, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof three new sections relating to the licensing of tattoo practitioners and establishments, with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 324.520 and 324.522, RSMo, are repealed and three new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 324.520, 324.522, and 324.523, to read as follows:
324.520. 1. As used in sections 324.520 to [324.524] 324.526, the following terms mean:
(1) "Body piercing", the perforation of human tissue other than an ear for a nonmedical purpose;
(2) "Branding", a permanent mark made on human tissue by burning with a hot iron or other instrument;
(3) "Controlled substance", any substance defined in section 195.010, RSMo;
(4) "Minor", a person under the age of eighteen;
(5) "Tattoo", one or more of the following:
(a) An indelible mark made on the body of another person by the insertion of a pigment under the skin; or
(b) An indelible design made on the body of another person by production of scars other than by branding.
2. 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 or herself as a parent is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.
3. A person shall not tattoo, brand or perform body piercing on another person if the other person is under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance.
4. A person who violates [this section] any provision of sections 324.520 to 324.526 is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars. If there is a subsequent violation [of this section] within one year of the initial violation, such person shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars or more than one thousand dollars.
5. No person under the age of eighteen shall tattoo, brand or perform body piercing on another person.
324.522. 1. 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. The license fee for each practitioner and each establishment shall be established by rule.
2. The director of the division of professional registration shall promulgate rules and regulations relative to the hygienic practice of tattooing, body piercing and branding[, and] ; the sanitary operations of tattoo, body piercing and branding establishments; and the educational and training requirements for applicants applying to receive and practitioners desiring to maintain a license to practice any profession that is licensed or regulated under sections 324.520 to 324.526. Such rules and regulations shall include:
(1) Standards of hygiene to be met and maintained by establishments and practitioners in order to receive and maintain a license for the practice of tattooing, body piercing and branding;
(2) Procedures to be used to grant, revoke or reinstate a license;
(3) Inspection of tattoo, body piercing and branding establishments; and
(4) Any other matter necessary to the administration of this section.
3. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, RSMo, that is created under the authority delegated in sections 324.520 to [324.524] 324.526 shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo, and, if applicable, section 536.028, RSMo. This section and chapter 536, RSMo, are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536, RSMo, to review, to delay the effective date or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2001, shall be invalid and void.
324.523. 1. The division may refuse to issue or cause a complaint to be filed with the administrative hearing commission as provided by chapter 621, RSMo, against any holder of any certificate of registration or authority, permit, or license required under sections 324.520 to 324.526, or any person who has failed to renew or has surrendered his or her certificate of registration or authority, permit, or license for any one or any combination of the following causes:
(1) Use or illegal possession of any controlled substance, as defined in chapter 195, RSMo, or use of any alcoholic beverage to an extent that such use impairs a person's ability to perform the work of any profession that is licensed or regulated under sections 324.520 to 324.526;
(2) Final adjudication and finding of guilt, or the entrance of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, in a criminal prosecution under the laws of any state or of the United States, for any offense reasonably related to the qualifications, functions, or duties of any profession that is licensed or regulated under sections 324.520 to 324.526 and the regulations promulgated thereunder, for any offense an essential element of which is fraud, dishonesty, or an act of violence, or for any offense involving moral turpitude, whether or not sentence is imposed;
(3) Use of fraud, deception, misrepresentation, or bribery in securing any certificate of registration or authority, permit, or license required under sections 324.520 to 324.526;
(4) Obtaining or attempting to obtain any fee, charge, tuition, or other compensation by fraud, deception, or misrepresentation;
(5) Incompetence, misconduct, gross negligence, fraud, misrepresentation, or dishonesty in the performance of the functions or duties of any profession that is licensed or regulated under sections 324.520 to 324.526;
(6) Violation of, or assisting or enabling any person to violate, any provision of sections 324.520 to 324.526, or of any lawful rule or regulation adopted under sections 324.520 to 324.526;
(7) Impersonation of any person holding a certificate of registration or authority, permit, or license, or allowing any person to use his or her certificate of registration or authority, license, permit, or diploma from any school;
(8) Disciplinary action against the holder of a license or other right to practice any profession regulated under sections 324.520 to 324.526 granted by another state, territory, federal agency, or country upon grounds for which revocation or suspension is authorized in this state;
(9) Final adjudication by a court of competent jurisdiction that a person is insane or incompetent;
(10) Assisting or enabling any person to practice or offer to practice any profession licensed or regulated under sections 324.520 to 324.526 who is not licensed and is currently ineligible to practice under sections 324.520 to 324.526;
(11) Causing the division to issue a certificate of registration or authority, permit, or license based on a material mistake of fact;
(12) Failure to display a valid license;
(13) Violation of any professional trust or confidence;
(14) Use of any advertisement or solicitation that is false, misleading, or deceptive to the general public or persons to whom the advertisement or solicitation is primarily directed;
(15) Failure or refusal to properly guard against contagious, infectious, or communicable diseases and the spread thereof.
2. After the filing of such complaint, the proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of chapter 621, RSMo. Upon a finding by the administrative hearing commission that grounds for disciplinary action are present, as provided in subsection 1 of this section, the division may censure or place the person named in the complaint on probation on such terms and conditions as the division deems appropriate for a period not to exceed five years, or the division may suspend the license, certificate, or permit for a period not to exceed three years, or revoke the license, certificate, or permit.
3. The division, acting on its own knowledge or on written or verified complaint filed by any person, may discipline a person as provided in subsections 1 and 2 of this section, or the division may bring an action to enjoin any person, establishment, firm, or corporation from engaging in an occupation regulated under the provisions of sections 324.520 to 324.526 if such person, firm, or corporation engages in or practices an occupation licensed under sections 324.520 to 324.526 without a license to do so. The action shall be brought in the county in which such person resides, or, in the case of an establishment, firm or corporation, where the establishment, firm, or corporation maintains its principal office; and unless it appears that such person, establishment, firm, or corporation so engaging or practicing such occupation is licensed, the injunction shall be issued, and such person, firm, or corporation shall be perpetually enjoined from engaging in such activities throughout the state.
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