10 states make the tattoo artist sign the consent form too

In 10 states a tattoo consent form is not finished when the tattoo client signs it. The rule asks for a second signature, the artist's, and says so in plain words. Florida, Illinois and Georgia are the big 3; Virginia, Missouri, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi are the rest, and Las Vegas adds it by county rule. A shop owner in South Carolina asked this week whether a form signed on a phone meets his state's standard, and the honest answer ran straight into this line: the client can sign on their phone, and the artist still has to sign somewhere.

Here are the 10 state rules and the Las Vegas one, 11 in all, grouped by what they ask, each in its own words with the text linked. Where a rule covers piercing as well as tattooing, it says so below.

This is a plain-language summary, not legal advice. Your local health department has the final word. Ask them, and bring your records.

4 rules say both parties sign the same paper

Alabama. The client's medical information form "shall be signed and dated by both parties, with a copy given to the client and the operator retaining the original with all other required records" (Ala. Admin. Code r. 420-3-23-.06(1)(c)). Both parties means the client and the operator, and Alabama keeps that original permanently.

Illinois. The written public education materials, which are the risk and aftercare disclosures a client gets before the work, "shall be signed and dated by both parties, with a copy given to the client, and the operator shall retain the original with all other required records for a period of no less than one year" (77 Ill. Adm. Code 797.600(c)). The Body Art Code covers piercing too.

Virginia. "Signatures of both the client or client's parent or guardian and the tattooer must be on the client disclosure form to acknowledge receipt of both the verbal and written disclosures" (18VAC41-50-410(E)). The body piercing regulation says the same of the piercer, at 18VAC41-60-210(E).

South Carolina. The client record has to hold an "Explanation of client rights in accordance with Section 1000, as evidenced by the tattoo artist's and client's signature, including a signed informed consent in accordance with Section 1001" (S.C. Code Regs. 60-111 § 801.B.2). One explanation, 2 signatures to prove it happened.

5 rules give the artist's signature its own line on the form or the record

Florida. "A tattoo artist shall ensure that a customer record is completed for each customer," and the record's list runs "(d) Signature of the customer. (e) Signature of the artist." (Fla. Admin. Code R. 64E-28.009(1)). Florida's body piercing chapter asks for the signature and printed name of whoever did the piercing, at each visit, in R. 64E-19.007(3)(m).

Georgia. The client's own signature has to be "signed in the presence of the Body Artist," and 2 lines later the same list asks for "(j) The signature of the Body Artist; and (k) The dates of all signatures" (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08(2)). Georgia's rule covers all body art.

Mississippi. The consent form's list ends "n. Signature of the client; o. Signature of the Tattooist or Body Piercer; and p. Signature of supervisor if required" (15 Miss. Code R. 19-60-11.5.10(1)).

Oklahoma. "The consent form summarizes the procedure information. It shall include:" the shop, the client, the date, the procedure, and then "(5) The artist's name and license number; (6) The signature of the artist; and (7) The signature of the client or guardian." (Okla. Admin. Code 310:233-3-6.1(a)). The chapter is titled Body Piercing and Tattooing, and the form is the same for both.

Las Vegas. The Southern Nevada Health District, which is Clark County's health department, has a form with a work section that records the inks' lot numbers, the date, "Any complications that occurred during the body art procedure, and 6.3.6.9 Signature of body artist" (SNHD Body Art Regulations § 6.3.6). That is a county rule. Nevada's statewide rule lists 12 things a client release form has to contain, and the only signature on that list is the client's (NAC 444.00803(3)), which is why a Las Vegas shop answers to a line the rest of Nevada does not.

2 rules make the artist swear to something

Missouri. The patron's record carries "The signature of the practitioner attesting that the practitioner has reviewed the completed form(s), has advised the patron in person and in writing of the dangers and contraindications of the procedure, and the date of the review" (20 CSR 2267-5.020(1)(F)). Then the same rule asks again, at (7): the record kept for 2 years includes "the name, license number and signature of the practitioner performing the procedure." Missouri licenses tattooists, body piercers and branders under the one rule.

Wisconsin. The consent has to be "on a form approved by the department" (SPS 221.10(1)(a)), and the department's own form, #3204 for a tattoo and #3203 for a piercing, ends with an affidavit the artist signs: that they are the tattooist named on the form, that they reviewed the patron's answers before the procedure, and that they understand their obligations under the rule. It is the only rule of the 11 that has the artist swear to who they are.

Before the work, or after it

There is no one moment. Georgia dates every signature and has the client sign in front of the artist, so both go on the paper at the counter. Missouri's attestation says the artist reviewed the health form and advised the client, which has to happen before the needle. Virginia's and Illinois's acknowledge disclosures the client receives first. Las Vegas's sits in the work section next to the lot numbers and the complications line, which is written after, and Florida's record carries the date the tattoo was done.

So some rules want the artist's name on the page before the work, and some want it as the last line of the record. Neither one belongs on the client's phone. The client signs their consent on their own device, often days before the chair. The artist's signature belongs on the artist's own device, whenever the rule puts it, and a form that only has one place to sign has nowhere for the second one. The same problem sits under Oregon's complications note, which is also written after the client has gone.

Keep the copy, keep the original

Alabama and Illinois both hand the client a copy and keep the original with the rest of the record. Every one of the 11 keeps it for as long as the state's retention rule says, which in Alabama is forever and in South Carolina is 6 years after the client is released. A signed copy that went out in an email the day the client signed is the client's copy. The original, with the artist's signature on it, is the one the health inspector asks for.

What a form on a phone does with the second signature

Ours does what the counter does. The client signs on their own phone. When they finish, the artist named on the form gets an email with a link that opens a signing pad for that one record, on the artist's own phone, with nothing to log into. The drawn signature and its date print on the signed copy. The owner can sign for the shop from the dashboard by the artist's name, and every record still waiting on an artist is marked so nobody has to go looking. In the 10 states above, and in Las Vegas, it is on by the rule. Everywhere else it is a switch in Settings, for a shop whose county, insurer or own habit wants it.

The rules that ask for the artist's signature are asking the artist to stand behind the record, not only the client. It is a small line on paper, and it is the line most phone forms forget.