Missouri

What the record must capture

Neither the statute nor 20 CSR 2267 names an ID document or requires you to check one. Checking age is still on the shop, because tattooing a minor without the parent's written consent is an offense.

"Be responsible for maintaining client records, in a manner where inspectors can gain reasonable access, for a minimum of two (2) years" — 20 CSR 2267-3.010(1)(F)

A license on a phone in Missouri

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

What we read: Missouri DOR Driver Licensing page (dor.mo.gov/driver-license/), 2026-09-11: its 'Mobile ID' menu link is commented out in the HTML (<!-- <li><a href="/driver-license/mobile-driver-license.html">Mobile ID</a></li>-->), and that page now redirects to the DOR home page. The Missouri Mobile ID app (com.idemia.mobileid.us.mo) answers 404 on Google Play and has no App Store listing, while the same checks find Mississippi's (positive control). DOR's system-modernization page (dor.mo.gov/MV-DL/) mentions no mobile ID. RSMo § 302.181 read in full at revisor.mo.gov. TSA list (2026-09-11): Missouri absent.

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

Minors

18+. Minors only with conditions. A minor is anyone under 18. You can tattoo one only with the prior written informed consent of the parent or legal guardian, executed in your presence or the presence of your employee or agent. No floor age appears in the statute or the rules. A first violation is a fine up to $500; a second within a year runs $500 to $1,000.

"No person shall knowingly tattoo, brand or perform body piercing on a minor unless such person obtains the prior written informed consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian." - Mo. Rev. Stat. § 324.520.2

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 Missouri requires.

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. The parent's or legal guardian's prior written informed consent, executed in the presence of the person doing the piercing or that person's employee or agent. Nothing else: no ID, no proof of relationship, no notary, and the parent does not have to stay for the procedure.

The statute excludes the whole ear, not just the lobe: body piercing is 'the perforation of human tissue other than an ear'.

Misdemeanor, a fine up to $500; a second violation within a year is $500 to $1,000. An adult who fraudulently misrepresents themselves as a parent commits a class B misdemeanor.

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 324.520.2 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 Missouri requires.

What the consent form must say

• For a client under 18, the parent's prior written informed consent
• That consent signed in the presence of the artist or an employee

"...the consent must be executed in the presence of the person performing the tattooing, branding or body piercing on the minor, or in the presence of an employee or agent of such person." - Mo. Rev. Stat. § 324.520.2

Health history and aftercare

Missouri's rules cover the premises, equipment, sterilization and waste, not the paperwork between artist and client: there is no health-history questionnaire and no aftercare requirement in §§ 324.520-324.526 or 20 CSR 2267. What the statute does bar is working on anyone under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance.

"A person shall not tattoo, brand or perform body piercing on another person if the other person is under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance." - Mo. Rev. Stat. § 324.520.3

Texting your clients in Missouri

8am to 9pm, the client’s local time. Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 407.1095(3), 407.1098, 407.1107 (Telemarketing No-Call List); § 407.1076(5) (telemarketing hours), in force since 2012-08-28. It names text messages, so a text counts.

Consent. The no-call statute does not prescribe a consent form; it defines consent out of the prohibition. A communication is not a "telephone solicitation" if made "To any residential subscriber with that subscriber's prior express invitation or permission" (§ 407.1095(3)(a)). Note the words: prior express INVITATION OR PERMISSION, not the TCPA's "prior express written consent."

Your own clients. § 407.1095(3)(b) excludes communications "By or on behalf of any person or entity with whom a residential subscriber has had a business contact within the past one hundred eighty days or a current business or personal relationship." 180 DAYS from the last business contact, or, with no time limit, a CURRENT business or personal relationship. It is the shortest existing-customer window of the 51, and the one that bites a tattoo shop: a client who signed a waiver 7 months ago, with no express permission on file and no current relationship, is again protected by the no-call list.

It reaches your sender too. Its own words are “make or cause to be made”, so a service that texts on your behalf is inside this rule with you. Hiring one does not move the duty off the shop.

"Telephone solicitation", any voice, facsimile, short messaging service (SMS), or multimedia messaging service (MMS), for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods or services The text

§ 407.1107.3: any person who has received MORE THAN ONE telephone solicitation within any twelve-month period by or on behalf of the same entity in violation of § 407.1098 or § 407.1104 may sue to enjoin, and/or to recover actual monetary loss or UP TO $5,000 IN DAMAGES FOR EACH KNOWING VIOLATION, whichever is greater. § 407.1107.1: the attorney general may seek a civil penalty up to $5,000 per knowing violation. § 407.1107.4 is a safe-harbor defense for a defendant who "established and implemented, with due care, reasonable practices and procedures to effectively prevent telephone solicitations in violation of" the act. Two-year limitations period (§ 407.1107.5).

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. Missouri 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

One state office issues the establishment license and the practitioner license and handles inspections, so there is no separate county health-department permit for the body art itself. The shop still has to document compliance with local building, fire and plumbing codes.

Office of Tattooing, Body Piercing and Branding

The rules set no fixed interval, but refusing a division inspection is grounds for discipline or denial, and client records have to be kept where an inspector can reasonably get at them.

Licensing

Your shop. Yes, an establishment license from the division, renewed biennially in odd-numbered years and expiring June 30; a temporary establishment license covers a single event.

Your artists. Yes, a practitioner license as a tattooist, body piercer or brander from the same office, on the same biennial cycle; you have to be 18 to hold one.

The licensing page

Missouri 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.
• Is a tattoo consent form signed on a phone legal? Yes, since 2000. Here is what your state adds on top.
• 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