Washington County, UT Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

County Code § 3-1-2 requires that "every person who, whether directly or indirectly, transacts, engages in, or operates a business within the unincorporated area of the County, shall obtain, maintain and renew a County business license for that business for each and every calendar year," with narrow exceptions for occasional youth-operated businesses and minor home occupations under §§ 10-4-1 and 10-26-1. A tattoo establishment does not qualify for either exception. Zoning confines where that licensed business can sit: § 10-10-2's Commercial Use Chart lists "Tattoo establishment" with a "P" under the C-1, C-2, and C-3 columns, so it is a by-right permitted use in those three commercial zones; the code separately treats "permanent cosmetics" offered by a licensed cosmetologist, barber, aesthetician, electrologist, or nail technician as a distinct accessory use, expressly "excluding tattoo establishments," meaning a shop cannot use that lighter accessory-use category to sidestep the standalone tattoo-establishment listing and its zone limits.

Fees for the annual license are set by the County Commission's fee schedule under § 3-1-4, with half the annual fee due for licenses issued after July 1 and expiration the following January 31. Before a license issues, § 3-1-2's application materials go through the county's community development department review described in that chapter.