Kentucky

What the form asks in Kentucky

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

• The medications and blood thinners question, always on“Client's attestation to the fact that the client: 1. Is not intoxicated or under the influence of drugs or alcohol; 2. Is not pregnant; and 3. Has not ingested an anticoagulant that thins the blood or interferes with blood clotting within the past twenty-four (24) hours.” (902 KAR 45:065 sec. 8(3))
• A photo of the client's ID (on every form)“Copy of client's government issued photo ID, if applicable; or Copy of custodial parent or legal guardian's government issued photo ID.” (902 KAR 45:065 sec. 8(3))

What the record must capture

• Studio name and certificate number
• Date the procedure was performed
• Client's name, date of birth, address, and phone number
• Copy of the client's government-issued photo ID
• Name of the artist who did the work
• Type, location, and description of the procedure
• Client's attestation: not intoxicated, not pregnant, no blood thinner in 24 hours

The file has to hold a copy of the client's government-issued photo ID, or, for a minor, a copy of the custodial parent's or legal guardian's.

"Records of each client shall be maintained for two (2) years." — 902 KAR 45:065 sec. 8(4)

A license on a phone in Kentucky

Kentucky’s digital license is a real ID. It lives in Kentucky Mobile ID app. Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Mobile ID FAQ:

Mobile ID is a digital identity credential that allows users to create a contactless, highly secure, state-approved version of their driver’s license, permit or ID card accessible ¬on their smartphone to be used as a valid form of ID only for domestic air travel and merchants who choose to accept. 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 Kentucky requires.

Minors

18+. 16–17 only with conditions. 16 and 17 only, and only with a custodial parent's or legal guardian's consent given as a written notarized statement carrying the notary's official seal or assigned ID. That statement names the guardian, their ID number and address, and the minor's name and date of birth, and the guardian signs it. Keep a copy of the guardian's government photo ID in the file.

"A minor shall be at least sixteen (16) years old with custodial parent or legal guardian consent prior to tattooing." — 902 KAR 45:065 sec. 7(2)

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 Kentucky requires, nobody under 16 is offered it.

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. 16–17 only with conditions. 16 and up for any body piercing, and only on a custodial parent's or legal guardian's written notarized consent carrying the notary's official seal or assigned ID. The statement has to name the parent, their government photo ID number, address and phone, and the minor's name, date of birth and photo ID number, and be signed and dated. Keep a copy of the parent's photo ID in the client record. Ear lobes have no floor age but still need the same notarized consent.

The lobe is excepted from the age-16 floor, NOT from the consent requirement: sec. 7(1)(a) names ear piercing in the same breath as body piercing, so a lobe on a minor of any age still needs the notarized parental consent.

Off limits for a minor even with consent: genital piercing on a female under 18 is barred outright, in accordance with KRS 508.125.

902 KAR 45:070 sec. 7 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 Kentucky requires, nobody under 16 is offered it, and the form refuses genital piercings.

What the consent form must say

• A statement that tattooing poses a risk of infection
• A statement that tattooing is permanent
• A statement that removal of a tattoo may leave scars
• The client's attestation on intoxication, pregnancy and blood thinners

"Client records and consent and other required records shall be made readily available to inspectors." — 902 KAR 45:065 sec. 8(5)

Health history and aftercare

There is no full health-history questionnaire in the rule. Instead the client's record must carry the client's own attestation that they are not intoxicated or under the influence, not pregnant, and have not taken a blood thinner or anticoagulant in the last 24 hours. Aftercare instructions go to every client before the work, and the rule lets them be written, spoken or electronic; they have to cover care of the site, side effects, restrictions, the signs of infection, and when to see a physician.

"Before the application of a tattoo, the client shall be provided written, verbal, or electronic aftercare instructions that includes: (a) Information on the care of the site of the tattoo; (b) Instructions on possible side effects" — 902 KAR 45:065 sec. 8(2)

Texting your clients in Kentucky

10am to 9pm, the client’s local time. KRS 367.46955(16); KRS 367.46951 (definitions); KRS 367.46999 (penalties), in force since 2019-06-27. It does not say whether a text is a call. Treat it as if it is.

Consent. Kentucky writes no affirmative consent formality for a marketing message. It works the other way round: KRS 367.46951(2)(a) takes out of 'telephone solicitation' "A telephone call made in response to an express request of a person called, unless the request was made during a prior telephone solicitation," and KRS 367.46955(14) forbids soliciting a person who has previously said they do not want the seller's calls.

Your own clients. Yes, and it is a definitional carve-out with no time limit: KRS 367.46951(2)(c) provides that 'telephone solicitation' does not mean "A telephone call to any person with whom the telemarketer or merchant has a prior or existing business relationship, including but not limited to the solicitation of contracts for the maintenance or repair of items previously purchased." A client who was tattooed at the shop is inside it, which takes the shop's own list outside KRS 367.46951–.46999 entirely.

It reaches your sender too. Its own words are “making or causing to be made”, so a service that texts on your behalf is inside this rule with you. Hiring one does not move the duty off the shop.

Making telephone solicitations to a person's residence at any time other than between 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. local time, at the called person's location. The text

Criminal, not civil, for the hours rule: KRS 367.46999(1) makes a violation of KRS 367.46955(7) through (16), which includes the hours provision and the DNC provision, a Class B misdemeanor for a first offense (up to 90 days, or a fine up to $500, or both) and a Class A misdemeanor for any subsequent offense (up to 1 year, or up to $5,000, or both). Kentucky's PRIVATE right of action, KRS 367.46999(4), is narrow: it reaches only caller-ID spoofing under KRS 367.46955(9), and there it allows injunctive relief, actual damages, costs, attorney's fees and punitive damages.

Federal law is the floor under it: 8am to 9pm, the client’s local time, prior express written consent for a marketing text, and a STOP honored within 10 business days (47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(1), (e)).

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 10am 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. Kentucky 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 state writes the rule that binds every shop in Kentucky (902 KAR 45:065), but the paperwork is local: the artist registers and the studio gets its certificate from the local health department in the district or county where the work happens, and registration is good for 1 year. Local and district health departments do the inspecting.

Tattoo, Body Piercing and Ear Piercing Program (Public Health Protection and Safety)

• Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness, body art registration and studio certification · Louisville / Jefferson County
• Northern Kentucky Health Department, tattoo studio permits and artist certification · Boone, Campbell, Grant and Kenton counties

At least twice a year, the cabinet or the local or district health department inspects each studio not less than twice each year, plus any additional inspections and re-inspections needed. The inspector expects client records, consent records and the other required records to be readily available on site.

Licensing

Your shop. Yes, the shop needs a studio certificate from the local health department in the district or county where it operates, and registrations run 1 year.

Your artists. Yes, every tattoo artist registers with the local health department in the district or county where they tattoo.

The licensing page

Using a generic waiver app in Kentucky

A generic waiver app is one form builder for every industry — rafting outfits, gyms, trampoline parks and tattoo shops all start from the same blank template. The tattoo part is yours: you write the questions, you keep them current when the rule changes, and you find out whether you got it right when an inspector reads your file.

In Kentucky that is 1 thing to set up and keep in step yourself:

• The medications and blood thinners question, always on

On waivers.tattoo, a shop in Kentucky gets all of it the day it starts. Your page opens with Kentucky’s questions already on the form, your client signs on their own phone, and the signed waiver prints what they answered.

Kentucky 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