720 ILCS 5/12C-35 – Tattooing the Body of a Minor
This law makes it illegal to tattoo or offer to tattoo anyone under 18 years old unless you are a licensed doctor.
This Illinois law says that no one except a licensed doctor can tattoo a person under age 18. It also limits minors from being inside tattoo shops without a parent and allows certain exceptions, like tattoo removal for victims or former gang members.
(a) It is against the law for anyone who is not a licensed doctor to tattoo or offer to tattoo someone under the age of 18, whether they do it on purpose or by being careless.
(b) If you own or work at a tattoo business and are not a licensed doctor, you can’t let anyone under 18 enter or stay in the tattoo area unless a parent or legal guardian is with them.
(c) “Tattoo” means putting ink or color under a person’s skin with a needle or similar tool to make a permanent design or mark that can be seen.
(d) Rule (a) does not apply when one person under 18 tattoos or offers to tattoo another person under 18, as long as it doesn’t happen at a tattoo business location.
(d-5) Rules (a) and (b) don’t apply when a tattoo is being removed from someone under 18 who was a victim of human trafficking or who is or was a gang member. The tattoo removal must happen in a registered and approved tattoo removal facility run by a certified operator or employee. In this section, “tattoo” also means the permanent mark made by tattooing.
(e) Sentence: Breaking this law is a Class A misdemeanor.
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