Montana

What the form asks in Montana

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

• A note after the procedure, written in the shop app, on the record“The complications and side effects that can happen” ("The client must sign a consent form before each body art procedure." — Admin. R. Mont. 37.112.144(1))
• Aftercare instructions, acknowledged in the consent (on every form)“The client's statement that aftercare was given in writing and out loud” ("The client must sign a consent form before each body art procedure." — Admin. R. Mont. 37.112.144(1))

What the record must capture

• A copy of the signed consent form
• The name of the artist who did the work
• The shop's name, address and phone number
• Medical or skin conditions relevant to the procedure
• A written physician referral, where the rule requires one

The rule does not require you to check or copy a photo ID. What it requires for a minor is the parent or guardian consenting in person and staying for the procedure.

"Client records, consent forms, autoclave sterilization test results, and any other records required by this chapter must be maintained on the establishment premises for a minimum of three years." — Admin. R. Mont. 37.112.141(1)

A license on a phone in Montana

Montana’s digital license is a real ID. It lives in Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and Samsung Wallet. Montana Department of Revenue, Acceptable IDs for Purchasing Alcoholic Beverages (rev. 8.2025):

The purpose of asking a customer for an ID when they are purchasing alcoholic beverages is to verify that the person is at least 21 years old. Montana-Issued Mobile Driver’s Licenses and IDs are acceptable: 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 Montana requires.

Minors

18+. Minors only with conditions. A client under 18 needs a parent or legal guardian to sign the consent form in person before the procedure and, since the rule's 2025 amendment, to accompany the client throughout it; the criminal statute frames the same requirement as explicit in-person consent, and says that failing to verify the adult's identity is no excuse.

"If the client is under the age of 18, the parent or legal guardian must accompany the client throughout the procedure." — Admin. R. Mont. 37.112.158(2); the signature rule is 37.112.144(1)

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 Montana requires.

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. The parent or legal guardian signs the consent form in person before the procedure and then accompanies the client throughout it. The criminal statute frames the same thing as explicit in-person consent, and says that failing to verify the adult's identity is not an excuse.

Montana is the one state here that pulls the lobe IN: 'body art' expressly includes ear lobe piercing. An earlobe-only shop gets a cheaper licence and a sanitation exemption, not an exemption from parental consent.

Unlawful transactions with children: a fine up to $500 or up to 6 months in county jail, or both; up to $1,000 on a second offense.

Admin. R. Mont. 37.112.144(1) and 37.112.158(2); Mont. Code Ann. § 45-5-623(1)(g) 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 Montana requires.

What the consent form must say

• Client name and address, date, design, and location on the body
• The complications and side effects that can happen
• Symptoms of infection: fever, swelling, redness, drainage
• Tell the client to see a medical provider if symptoms appear
• A statement that the work is permanent
• The client's statement that aftercare was given in writing and out loud
• The client's statement consenting to the procedure

"The client must sign a consent form before each body art procedure." — Admin. R. Mont. 37.112.144(1)

Health history and aftercare

No health-history form is spelled out, but the client record has to carry any medical or skin conditions that matter, and a written physician referral is required first if the client is on blood thinners, has a bleeding condition, shows recent IV drug use, has a sunburn, skin disease, infection or a mole at the site, or has pigment or soap allergies. Aftercare instructions must be given to every client both verbally and in writing before the procedure.

"Aftercare instructions appropriate for the body art procedure that describe effective means of infection prevention must be provided to the client both verbally and in writing before every procedure." — Admin. R. Mont. 37.112.133(1)

Texting your clients in Montana

8am to 9pm, the client’s local time. Montana 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 Montana: Its telemarketing window, 8am to 9pm at the called person's location, reaches a voice call and not a text. Read Mont. Code Ann. Title 30, ch. 14: the part 16 index and §§ 30-14-1601 (definitions), 30-14-1602 (prohibition), 30-14-1605 (penalties) in full. Then walked the chapter 14 parts index and read part 14 (Montana Telemarketing Registration and Fraud Prevention Act): §§ 30-14-1403 (definitions), 30-14-1409 (acts not governed), 30-14-1412 (abusive acts, the hours). Noted part 15 is Unsolicited Advertisement Facsimile Transmissions (fax only) and there is no commercial-email or commercial-text part in the chapter. Searched for 'text', 'SMS', 'message' in parts 14 and 16, nothing reaching SMS.

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. Montana 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

DPHHS issues the establishment license and writes the rules; the county or city-county health department usually does the plan review and the inspection as the department's designee. A local board of health can also license body art establishments on its own under 50-48-203, MCA, in which case the state rules do not apply unless the local rules say so.

Body Art (tattooing and piercing establishment) licensing, Food and Consumer Safety

• Gallatin City-County Health Department, Body Art · Gallatin County (Bozeman)
• Cascade County Health Department, Environmental Health (body art plan review and annual inspections) · Cascade County (Great Falls)

At least once a year, plus as many extra visits as enforcement needs; a third or later follow-up visit for an uncorrected violation costs $150. The inspector can enter at any reasonable time and must be allowed to examine the shop's records, and the finished inspection report is a public document.

Licensing

Your shop. Yes. No one may operate a body art establishment without a DPHHS license; it costs $185 for tattooing, needs plan review and a pre-opening inspection, and expires every December 31.

Your artists. No individual artist license. Every artist must be at least 18 and finish training in general sanitation, first aid and bloodborne pathogens before the establishment is licensed, and keep that certification current.

The licensing page

Using a generic waiver app in Montana

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

• A note after the procedure, written in the shop app, on the record

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

Montana in our state-by-state posts

• Texting your tattoo clients: the hours, the caps, and all 51 state rules
• OSHA wants your bloodborne pathogens training renewed every year. Your state may want it once, ever.
• 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