Kansas

What the record must capture

• Client name and address
• Date and duration of each service
• Type of identification presented
• Type of services provided
• For a minor, the notarized parental or guardian consent
• Before-and-after photographs for corrective tattoo work

The record has to name the type of identification the client presented, so check ID and write down what it was.

"Each licensee shall keep an individual record of each client for at least five years." — K.A.R. 69-15-15(b)

A license on a phone in Kansas

Kansas does not issue a digital license. A license on a phone is not an ID a shop here can rely on.

What we read: Kansas Department of Revenue, Division of Vehicles pages (ksrevenue.gov: dovindex, dovdrlic, dovlicenses, dovdlfaq), 2026-09-11: no digital or mobile license offered or mentioned. Kansas Legislature bill pages for SB 230 and HB 2319 (b2025_26): both marked 'Died'. Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and TSA lists (2026-09-11): Kansas absent.

On waivers.tattoo: a shop can let its clients choose a saved photo of their ID in Settings. It starts off, and in Kansas a saved photo is only ever a picture of a card: a copy for your file, never proof of age.

Minors

18+. Minors only with conditions. Under 18 is allowed only with the parent's or court-appointed guardian's prior written and notarized consent, and that person must be present for the whole procedure. Keep the signed permission, plus a copy of the letters of guardianship if a guardian signed, for 5 years. Violating this is a class A misdemeanor.

"No person shall perform body piercing, cosmetic tattooing or tattooing on or to any person under 18 years of age without the prior written and notarized consent of the parent or court appointed guardian" — K.S.A. 65-1953

On waivers.tattoo: turn on Tattooing 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 Kansas requires.

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. Prior written AND notarized consent from the parent or court-appointed guardian, and that person has to be present during the whole procedure. Keep the written permission, plus a copy of the letters of guardianship if a guardian signed, for 5 years.

K.S.A. 65-1940(g) writes the external part of the earlobe out of the definition of body piercing, so the notarized-consent rule does not reach a lobe. A piercing gun is lobe-only at any age, K.A.R. 69-15-15(h).

Class A misdemeanor.

K.S.A. 65-1953 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 Kansas requires.

What the consent form must say

"Each licensee shall give preservice information in written form to the client to advise of possible reactions, side effects, potential complications of the tattooing process" — K.A.R. 69-15-15(c)

Health history and aftercare

Kansas does not make the client fill out a health questionnaire. It makes you hand the client written pre-service information covering 14 named conditions, diabetes, allergies, cold sores, epilepsy, heart conditions, hemophilia, hepatitis, HIV or AIDS, blood thinners, moles, psoriasis or eczema, pregnancy or nursing, scarring, and anything else medical or skin-related. Aftercare goes to the client verbally and in writing after every service.

"Each licensee shall give aftercare instructions to the client, both verbally and in writing after every service." — K.A.R. 69-15-15(d)

Texting your clients in Kansas

8am to 9pm, the client’s local time. Kansas 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 Kansas: Read K.S.A. 50-670 in full and K.S.A. 50-670a in full, as rendered HTML from the Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes (ksrevisor.gov), including the history lines and case annotations. Searched both for 'a.m.', 'p.m.', 'hour', 'text', 'message', 'SMS'. Read K.S.A. 50-634 (Private remedies) and 50-636 (Civil penalties) for the KCPA consequence. Attempted to locate any K.A.R. promulgated under 50-670a(m) adopting 16 C.F.R. part 310 via the Kansas Secretary of State's KAR site, the agency browser returned HTTP 500 and the agency-16 statute file path 404'd, so that check is INCOMPLETE.

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. Kansas 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

One state board does all of it: it licenses the individual artist, licenses the establishment, and inspects. There is no county or city tattoo program layered on top. Artists may not work anywhere except a licensed establishment.

Body art licensing, tattoo artist, cosmetic tattoo artist, body piercer, and establishment

No fixed interval in the rules, the board carries out periodic inspections of licensed establishments, and a complaint inspection can happen between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. or any time tattooing is going on. Post your current practitioner and establishment licenses and a copy of the latest inspection certificate in the lobby or waiting area, and have client records on hand.

Licensing

Your shop. Yes, the shop needs an establishment license from the Kansas Board of Cosmetology, renewed before it expires, and no licensee may practice outside a licensed establishment.

Your artists. Yes, a tattoo artist needs a board license; it expires 2 years after the date of issue and continuing education is required.

The licensing page

Kansas 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.
• Is a tattoo consent form signed on a phone legal? Yes, since 2000. Here is what your state adds on top.
• 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