McHenry County, IL Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

Section 8.04.080(M) of the McHenry County Public Health Ordinance makes it a nuisance to operate a tattoo and/or body piercing establishment in unincorporated County territory without a valid registration issued by the Illinois Department of Public Health, tying local enforcement directly to the state's Illinois Tattoo and Body Piercing Establishment Registration Act and the Illinois Department of Public Health Body Art Code. Because registration is issued at the state level, a McHenry County shop owner applies to IDPH, not to the County, to get licensed; the County's role, through § 8.04.030, is inspection and enforcement once a business is operating.

An enforcing officer from the McHenry County Department of Health who finds an unregistered tattoo or piercing operation issues a written notice under § 8.04.030(E) identifying the violation and giving the operator up to ten days to cure it, typically by producing proof of IDPH registration, before escalating. The Ordinance treats this the same as its companion subsection (L), which separately bars operating a tanning facility without an Illinois Department of Public Health permit, showing the County applies one enforcement track to every state-licensed personal-care business operating on unincorporated land. The County Board of Health hears any appeal of an enforcement notice under § 8.04.040.