Tattoo consent records in Wisconsin

Wisconsin

DSPS licenses the tattooist and the establishment, but 51 counties and cities are delegated agents that license and inspect locally, Milwaukee, Dane, Racine, Brown and Appleton among them, so check the agent list before you apply. Nobody under 18 gets a tattoo, with no parental-consent route. Every patron signs a department-approved consent form, and you keep the record 2 years.

Last reviewed 2026-09-02 · 9 sources
Try Wisconsin’s waiver formView Wisconsin’s law
Minimum age
Tattoo
18+
No minors, even with a parent
Piercing
18+
16–17 only with conditions
Keep each record
2 years
Keep every patron's record, including their signed consent form, for at least 2 years after the procedure.
Who regulates
State + local
Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS)
Written consent
Required
3 things the form must say

What the record must capture

  • Patron's name
  • Address
  • Age
  • The signed consent form
  • Name of the practitioner who did the procedure
  • Any adverse effects from the procedure

No rule requires you to check or record an ID, only to record the patron's age. Check one anyway, tattooing anyone under 18 is a forfeiture under Wis. Stat. Sec. 948.70.

"A patron's record shall be retained for a minimum of 2 years following completion of the procedure." - SPS 221.10(2)

A license on a phone in Wisconsin

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

What we read: Wis. Stat. ch. 343 (Operators' Licenses), full PDF (docs.legis.wisconsin.gov), 2026-09-11, searched for mobile/digital/electronic license language: none. WisDOT home page (wisconsindot.gov): no mobile or digital license offered or mentioned. Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and TSA lists (2026-09-11): Wisconsin absent.

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

Minors

18+. No minors, even with a parent. No parental-consent route for tattoos, a parent cannot sign a 17-year-old in. You also have to post a sign saying so. Piercing is different: 16 and 17 year olds can be pierced with a parent's signed consent given in front of the operator, and under 16 is out.

"No person under 18 years of age may be tattooed except by a physician in the course of the physician's professional practice, as permitted under s. 948.70 (3), Stats." - SPS 221.10(1)(b)3

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

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. 16–17 only with conditions. Nobody under 16, ever. At 16 or 17, the parent or legal guardian signs the department-approved informed consent form in the presence of the operator, not at home, not mailed in. The shop also posts a notice saying a piercing under 18 without that signed consent is illegal.

The statute writes the whole ear out of the definition of body piercing, not only the lobe.

Not more than a $500 fine or 30 days or both (Wis. Stat. § 463.18)

Wis. Admin. Code SPS 221.10(1)(b)1-2 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 Wisconsin requires, nobody under 16 is offered it.

What the consent form must say

  • The department-approved consent form, signed before the procedure
  • Informed consent from the patron themselves
  • The signed form kept in the patron's record
"A tattooist or body piercer may not tattoo or body pierce a patron without first obtaining the signed, informed consent of the person on a form approved by the department." - SPS 221.10(1)(a)

Health history and aftercare

No health-history questionnaire is required, but you cannot tattoo someone who appears to be under the influence or who has visible skin lesions or infection at the site. After the procedure, every patron gets aftercare instructions out loud AND in writing.

"After completing a procedure, the tattooist or body-piercer shall provide the patron with oral and written instructions on the care of the tattoo or pierce." - SPS 221.15(2)

Texting your clients in Wisconsin

8am to 9pm, the client’s local time. Wis. Stat. § 100.52 (Telephone solicitations); Wis. Admin. Code ATCP §§ 127.02, 127.16(3), 127.20, 127.80, 127.81, 127.83; private action via Wis. Stat. § 100.20(5), in force since 2012-04-17. It names text messages, so a text counts.

Consent. No general consent standard for a marketing text; the hook is "unsolicited." ATCP 127.16(3) allows a solicitation outside 8AM-9PM with "the prior consent of the consumer." A signed written agreement is required only for a PRERECORDED message: ATCP 127.83(2)(b) requires "a written agreement that contains the telephone number and signature of the customer to be called," disclosing that signing is not a condition of purchase.

Your own clients. Yes, and with no fixed time limit, but "current" is doing the work. ATCP 127.80(10)(d) excludes from "telephone solicitation" "[a] telephone call or text message made to a current client," and ATCP 127.80(2) defines "client" as "a person who has a current agreement to receive, from the telephone caller or the person on whose behalf the call is made, property, goods, or services of the type promoted by the telephone call." Wis. Stat. § 100.52(6)(am)2 says the same for the statutory do-not-call rule. ATCP 127.80(10)(g) separately allows a satisfaction-check call or text to a FORMER client "unless the call or text message is part of a plan or scheme to encourage the former client to purchase."

It reaches your sender too. Its own words are “knowingly facilitate any person's violation”, so a service that texts on your behalf is inside this rule with you. Hiring one does not move the duty off the shop.

Initiate a telephone solicitation to a consumer before 8:00 AM or after 9:00 PM without the prior consent of the consumer. Time, for purposes of this section, is the local time at the place where the consumer resides. The text

Forfeitures of $100 per violation, enforced by DATCP (Wis. Stat. § 100.52(10)(a)-(b)); $100-$10,000 per violation for caller-ID blocking or spoofing (§ 100.52(10)(c))

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 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. Wisconsin 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

DSPS writes the rules (ch. SPS 221) and licenses statewide, but where a local health department is a delegated 'body art agent' you apply to them instead and they do the inspections. Check the DSPS Body Art Agent list first, applying to the wrong one wastes a cycle.

Body art, tattooing and body piercing establishment and practitioner licensing, Division of Industry Services

A pre-license inspection before you open; after that, inspections are at the department's or agent's discretion with no fixed interval in the rule. An inspector can enter at any reasonable time to inspect, check compliance with earlier violation orders, take samples, and "examine and copy relevant documents and records" tied to running the establishment, so patron records need to be on site and findable.

Licensing

Your shop. Yes, a tattoo establishment license from DSPS or from your delegated county or city agent, with a pre-license inspection first; DSPS licenses expire June 30 each year.

Your artists. Yes, an individual tattooist license, issued annually; dentists, dental therapists and physicians doing it in their own practice are exempt.

The licensing page

Wisconsin in our state-by-state posts

This page summarizes public regulations in plain language so you know what to look for, with the section each point comes from. It is not legal advice. Your local health department has the final word; ask them, and bring your records.