Mississippi

What the form asks in Mississippi

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

• Aftercare instructions, acknowledged in the consent (on every form)“Acknowledgment that printed aftercare instructions were received” ("Consent forms shall be maintained at the establishment for a minimum of two (2) years, shall be produced and be made available at the request of the Department..." - Rule 11.5.10(1))

What the record must capture

• Name and certificate number of the tattooist or body piercer
• Name of the supervisor, if the registration is provisional
• Name and address of the establishment
• Date of the tattoo or body piercing
• Client name, home address and home phone number
• Sex of the client
• Date of birth of the client
• Where on the body the work was done
• Acknowledgment of the risks involved
• Acknowledgment that printed aftercare instructions were received
• Statement that the client is not under the influence
• Signature of the client
• Signature of the tattooist or body piercer
• Signature of the supervisor, if required

A photocopy of an original government-issued ID showing the client's date of birth has to be attached to the consent form.

"Consent forms shall be maintained at the establishment for a minimum of two (2) years, shall be produced and be made available at the request of the Department..." - Rule 11.5.10(1)

A license on a phone in Mississippi

Mississippi’s digital license is a real ID. It lives in Mississippi Mobile ID app. Mississippi Department of Public Safety, Mobile ID:

Mobile ID can be used in any context in which you would use your physical ID to verify your age or identity. A merchant can choose to physically verify the Mobile ID by identifying your birthdate from the rendered license under the “ID” tab. The text

A picture of one is not. “The moving portrait and the “Certify” emblem are added security features that allow the verifier to know it is not a screenshot.” The source

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 Mississippi requires.

Minors

18+. No minors, even with a parent.

"It shall be unlawful for any person to perform tattooing and/or body piercing upon any person under the age of eighteen (18) years." - 15 Miss. Code R. § 19-60-11.1.3 (Rule 11.1.3, Age Of Consent)

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

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. No minors, even with a parent. No consent route: tattooing or body piercing anyone under 18 is unlawful whoever signs. The outer perimeter and the lobe of the ear are outside the definition.

The outer perimeter and the lobe of the ear are outside the definition of body piercing, so earlobe piercing is not covered by the under-18 ban.

Misdemeanor: a fine up to $500, up to 6 months in county jail, or both (Rule 11.7.3(3), via Miss. Code § 41-3-59); $100 to $500 per offense for a violation of §§ 73-61-1 or 73-61-3.

15 Miss. Code R. § 19-60-11.1.3 (Rule 11.1.3); Miss. Code Ann. § 73-61-3 The text

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

What the consent form must say

• Acknowledgment of the risks of a tattoo or body piercing
• Acknowledgment that printed aftercare instructions were received
• Statement that the client is not under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• The Board's recommendation that mucous-membrane work go to a physician
• A warning for diabetic, HIV-infected and End Stage Renal Disease clients
• A warning for clients with preexisting cardiac conditions

"The consent form must contain a warning to persons who are diabetic, HIV infected, or have End Stage Renal Disease that they are at higher risk of complications and should consult their personal physician..." - Rule 11.5.10(3)

Health history and aftercare

There is no health-history questionnaire in the rules; the health screening rides on the consent form's mandatory warnings about diabetes, HIV, End Stage Renal Disease and cardiac conditions. Before the work starts, every client gets a printed aftercare statement covering care of the specific area, the signs and symptoms of infection, and instructions to consult a medical professional if those appear.

"Every client, prior to the tattooing procedure beginning, shall be given a printed statement of instructions for care of the tattoo..." - Rule 11.5.11

Texting your clients in Mississippi

8am to 8pm, on the clock the rule names, not the client’s. Never on Sundays. Miss. Code Ann. §§ 77-3-701 to 77-3-739 (Mississippi Telephone Solicitation Act), esp. §§ 77-3-705 (definitions), 77-3-707, 77-3-711, 77-3-723 (rules for authorized calls), 77-3-725 (penalties), in force since 2023-07-01. It names text messages, so a text counts.

Consent. Mississippi writes no prior-express-written-consent formality of its own. Its gate is the national do-not-call database plus the established-business-relationship exemption; a consumer's own initiation matters only in the narrow Medicare Advantage carve-out at Miss. Code Ann. § 77-3-707(4).

Your own clients. Yes, but on a six-month clock. Miss. Code Ann. § 77-3-711(j) exempts "Any telephone solicitor who solicits a consumer with whom he has an established business relationship," and § 77-3-705(g) defines that as a relationship formed by voluntary two-way communication "which relationship is currently existing or was terminated within six (6) months of the telephone solicitation." A prior telephone solicitation does not itself create one.

It reaches your sender too. A service that texts on your behalf is inside this rule with you. Hiring one does not move the duty off the shop.

Such calls may only be made between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Central Standard Time. No telephone solicitations may be made on a Sunday. The text

No private right of action in the article. Miss.

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 8pm, on the clock the rule names, not the client’s, and never on Sundays. 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. Mississippi 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

MSDH registers people, not shops, but the establishment still has to pass a department inspection before any registration there is issued or renewed. Department representatives may visit any premises where tattooing happens during business hours, and inspect at least every 180 days plus once a year unannounced.

Professional Licensure Division, registration of individuals performing tattooing and body piercing (Office of Health Protection)

Routine inspections at least every 180 days, plus one unannounced observation-based inspection each year. The inspector checks compliance with the rules; if a critical item is not corrected on the spot, a compliance check follows within 2 weeks, and renewal requires the establishment to pass an inspection.

Licensing

Your shop. There is no separate studio license, but the establishment has to pass an MSDH inspection before a registration there is issued or renewed.

Your artists. Yes, a current Certificate of Registration from MSDH, Regular or Provisional, displayed in the shop; the registration year runs June 1 to May 31 and renews annually.

The licensing page

Mississippi 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.
• 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