Politics & Government

County Prohibits Sex Offenders From Practicing Tattoos, Body Art

A resolution barring sex offenders from practicing body art in Riverside County tattoo parlors was passed Tuesday. However, a vote on a comprehensive overhaul of health and safety regulations was put off.

Convicted sex offenders will not be permitted to practice as tattoo or body artists in Riverside County following the Board of Supervisors' adoption Tuesday of a resolution requiring they undergo background checks prior to receiving a license.

The resolution passed unanimously and applies to all tattoo and body piercing artists practicing in the county.

Kenneth Herring, artist and manager at in Murrieta, said he agreed with the new requirement.

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"I think that is a great thing," Herring said by phone Tuesday evening. "I will back that 100 percent."

Other Proposed Changes

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The resolution is part of a larger proposed ordinance drawn up about a year ago after the county's grand jury criticized the Department of Environmental Health for a laxity in holding tattoo parlors and other body art businesses to tough standards.

According to the grand jury report, applications furnished by the department often failed to ensure that permanent cosmetics providers passed a safety class, obtained a facility permit, established an exposure containment plan and retained a copy of the county's health code.

A vote on the ordinance, which would increase health and safety standards at body art shops, was delayed Tuesday after a public hearing.

The measure, which would be enforced by the county's Department of Environmental Health, would apply to the roughly 100 body artists with operations in the county's unincorporated communities--and in cities that do not have their own health agencies.

Ray Smith, spokesperson for the county executive office, said that encompasses most if not all cities in the county.

The ordinance calls for the tattoo businesses to register by filing an application, establish "exposure containment'' plans that prevent the spread of blood-borne diseases such as HIV/AIDS or hepatitis and permit regular inspections by county personnel.

Shop owners would have to demonstrate adherence to sterilization procedures for body-piercing and tattooing equipment and ensure used products are properly discarded. They would also have to comply with state law and refuse to tattoo, pierce or otherwise permanently alter the features of a person under 18 years old without parental consent.

Herring, who is among five tattoo artists and one apprentice at the Murrieta tattoo studio owned by his parents, was not happy to hear of the proposed regulations. He said Heritage Tattoo already follows strict measures, including not performing work on minors without parental consent.

"Obviously, if you are going to have a successful tattoo shop, you are going to be super clean," he said. "We follow every rule there is.

"I think they should go chase down people who are tattooing out of their garage, their kitchens."

Herring said all the artists at Heritage Tattoo are licensed through the county, for which they pay a yearly fee of $125. He felt the stricter regulations were an attempt to take more money out their pockets.

"Doc" Dutton, a tattoo artist who spoke at the hearing, requested that the board stiffen regulations in some cases and relax a requirement that people performing body piercings or similar cosmetic work use sterile gloves, which can be expensive.

He said other disposable gloves would be just as viable.

Dutton also asked the board to drop a provision that any procedure involving the piercing of a customer's buttocks, genitalia or breast area be witnessed by a second party.

"That just wouldn't be practical,'' he said.

Third District Supervisor Jeff Stone, a practicing pharmacist, recommended the provision when the ordinance was introduced last month. He also asked that the measure require business permits to be clearly displayed and that any practitioner of permanent cosmetics be required to submit a thumb print to the state as part of the application process.   

Violators would be subject to suspension or revocation of their permits and face fines up to $500.   

The matter will be brought back to the board for reconsideration on July 26, giving the Department of Environmental Health a chance to meet with members of the tattoo artist industry to review recommendations that were proposed during Tuesday's hearing, Smith said.

While Herring did not attend Tuesday's hearing, but he said he planned to attend the next one. 

"I want to be there to speak my mind," he said.

City News Service contributed to this report.


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