It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a body art studio or perform body art without having first obtained a valid permit. Body art studio permits shall be issued by the county board of health or its duly authorized representative, subject to supervision and direction by the department. Body artist permits shall be issued by the Department of Public Health. Permits shall be valid until suspended or revoked and shall not be transferable.
(Code 1981, §31-40-2, enacted by Ga. L. 1994, p. 446, § 2; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 1-4/HB 228; Ga. L. 2011, p. 705, § 6-3/HB 214; Ga. L. 2019, p. 462, § 2-1/SB 214.)
The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, rewrote this Code section, which read: "It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a tattoo studio without having first obtained a valid permit for such studio. Such permits shall be issued by the county board of health or its duly authorized representative, subject to supervision and direction by the Department of Public Health but, where the county board of health is not functioning, the permit shall be issued by the department. A permit shall be valid until suspended or revoked and shall not be transferable with respect to person or location."
For application of this statute in 2020, see Executive Orders 04.20.20.01, 04.23.20.02, 05.28.20.02, 06.11.20.01, 06.29.20.02, 07.15.20.01, 07.31.20.02, 08.15.20.01, and 08.31.20.02.
A listing of Executive Orders issued in 2020 can be found at https://gov.georgia.gov/executive-action/executive-orders/2020-executive-orders.
Law reviews.- For article on the 2011 amendment of this Code section, see 28 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 147 (2011).
RESEARCH REFERENCES
Am. Jur. 2d.
- 58 Am. Jur. 2d, Occupations, Trades, and Professions, § 68.
C.J.S.- 39A C.J.S., Health and Environment, § 61 et seq.