Alaska

What the form asks in Alaska

Alaska’s rule names things the standard waiver form did not ask. A shop in Alaska gets them by default: the questions on its form, the rest on its record in the shop app.

• Aftercare instructions, acknowledged in the consent (on every form)“The signed, dated aftercare instructions, shop keeps the original” ("[The written aftercare instructions] shall be signed and dated by the client and the practitioner; the practitioner shall keep the original and provide a copy to the client." — Alaska Stat. § 08.13.215(b)(3))

What the record must capture

• The signed, dated aftercare instructions, shop keeps the original
• The shop's name, address and telephone number on that sheet
• Advice to see a doctor at the first sign of infection
• A minor's body-piercing permission from the parent, kept 3 years

No ID rule is written into the statute or the regulations, but because tattooing anyone under 18 is a crime with no consent exception, shops check age themselves.

"[The written aftercare instructions] shall be signed and dated by the client and the practitioner; the practitioner shall keep the original and provide a copy to the client." — Alaska Stat. § 08.13.215(b)(3)

A license on a phone in Alaska

Alaska’s digital license is a real ID. It lives in Alaska Mobile ID app. Alaska Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, Acceptance of DMV Mobile Identification as Proof of Age (2026):

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board approved the DMV Mobile ID as an identification card that satisfies the proof-of-age requirement under AS 04.21.050(b). The text

On waivers.tattoo: turn on “Choose from library” in Settings and a client whose license lives on their phone can pick a saved photo of their ID for your file. It starts off, and the signed waiver says when a photo was a saved one. The license itself is the proof of age, checked the way Alaska requires.

Minors

18+. No minors, even with a parent. There is no parental-consent route for a tattoo in Alaska, a parent cannot sign a minor into one, and doing it with criminal negligence is a class B misdemeanor. Body piercing is the exception: a minor can be pierced with the parent or guardian's prior written permission and that person present, and the shop keeps a copy of the permission at least 3 years.

"A person may not practice tattooing or permanent cosmetic coloring on a minor." — Alaska Stat. § 08.13.217(a)

On waivers.tattoo: your form takes 18+ for a tattoo in Alaska, and tells the client which rule says so.

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. Prior WRITTEN permission from the minor's parent or legal guardian, and that person present during the procedure. The shop keeps a copy of the written permission on file for at least 3 years.

The definition of body piercing excludes puncturing the external part of the human ear, so the whole ear, not just the lobe, is outside the rule.

Class B misdemeanor where done with criminal negligence, plus a Board civil penalty up to $5,000 per offense

Alaska Stat. § 08.13.217(b) The text

On waivers.tattoo: turn on Piercing under 18 in Settings and a client under 18 gets a parent-or-guardian section — who they are, how they are related, their own signature, and a photo of their ID. The signed waiver prints what Alaska requires.

What the consent form must say

"Before performing a tattooing, permanent cosmetic coloring, or body piercing procedure on a client, a practitioner shall give written educational information, approved by the board, to the client." — Alaska Stat. § 08.13.215(a)

Health history and aftercare

Before the work you hand the client board-approved written educational information; after it you hand them board-approved written aftercare instructions, and both of you sign and date that sheet. The board adopted the March 2003 Educational Information and Aftercare Instructions by reference as the minimum standard, and the shop posts the board's health-risk statement plus complaint contacts for the board, DCCED and DEC.

"The Educational Information and Aftercare Instructions for Tattoos ... are adopted by reference as the minimum standards of aftercare instruction and educational information to be given to a client by a licensed practitioner of tattooing." — 12 AAC 09.940(a)

Texting your clients in Alaska

8am to 9pm, the client’s local time. Alaska has no telephone-solicitation or texting rule that goes past federal law, so federal law is the whole of it here. A marketing text to a cell phone needs prior express written consent: a signed agreement that names who may text, says the texts may be automated, and says the person does not have to agree in order to buy anything. A client can take that back any way they like, and you have 10 business days to stop.

No person or entity shall initiate any telephone solicitation to … any residential telephone subscriber before the hour of 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. (local time at the called party’s location) The text

47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(1), (e). The hours reach a text because the rules set forth in paragraph (c) and (d) of this section are applicable to any person or entity making telephone solicitations or telemarketing calls or text messages to wireless telephone numbers.

What we read in Alaska: Read AS 45.50.470 to .475 and AS 45.63.010 to .100 in full at the Alaska Legislature's own statute view. Alaska sets no calling window and no cap: its telephone-solicitation rule is the national do-not-call registry, and a solicitation to a client who bought from you inside 18 months is outside the definition entirely.

What to do

• Ask separately. A yes to marketing texts belongs on its own tick, not folded into the box a client has to accept to get tattooed. Keep it with the date and what it said.
• Text between 8am to 9pm, the client’s local time. An area code is not where somebody lives, so when you cannot tell, use the tighter window.
• Honor a STOP that day. Federal law gives you 10 business days. Same-day is the version nobody argues with, and it is what the carriers expect.
• Keep the count low. Alaska sets no cap and neither does federal law, but a shop that texts a client more than a couple of times a month is teaching them to reply STOP.

Who inspects you

The board licenses the practitioner and the shop; the Department of Environmental Conservation supervises health and sanitation for tattoo, permanent cosmetic coloring and body piercing shops and has to certify a shop as compliant before the board will issue its license. DEC then inspects annually, and a violation gets reported back to the board.

Barbers and Hairdressers licensing (tattooing, permanent cosmetic coloring, body piercing practitioners, shop owner licenses), Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing

The Department of Environmental Conservation inspects every licensed tattoo shop once a year. On top of that annual DEC visit, the shop owner or manager has to let any board member or department representative inspect during working hours, and the DEC-facing part of that inspection goes on a board-approved form.

Licensing

Your shop. A shop owner license from the board is required for each shop, and for tattooing the shop must first be inspected and certified by the Department of Environmental Conservation as meeting the state sanitation rules.

Your artists. A practitioner license to tattoo is required from the Board of Barbers and Hairdressers, earned through the board's training-hour and examination route in 12 AAC 09; temporary and guest-practitioner permits exist for conventions.

The licensing page

Alaska in our state-by-state posts

• Texting your tattoo clients: the hours, the caps, and all 51 state rules
• Can a minor get a tattoo with parental consent? State by state
• Can a minor get a piercing with parental consent? 45 states say yes, each on its own terms
• Do you have to ask health questions before a tattoo? 20 states say yes. Here are the questions.
• Do you have to give tattoo aftercare instructions in writing? 38 states say yes.
• What has to be on a tattoo consent form? 32 states say. Here is every line they name.
• 26 states make you check ID before a tattoo. The other 25 give you a reason to.
• How long do you have to keep tattoo consent forms? Every state, one table