Jefferson County, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

Section 18-39 does two things at once. Subsection (a) adopts by reference "the tattooing and body piercing code as promulgated by the state department of safety and professional services and codified in the Wis. Admin. Code ch. as far as it is applicable to the regulation of tattooing and body piercing," and makes clear that "a violation of Wis. Admin. Code ch. SPS 221 shall be a violation of this article" rather than only a state matter. Subsection (b) then layers the county's own licensing requirement on top: "No person, firm or entity shall engage in tattooing or body piercing, as defined as Wis.

Admin. Code ch. SPS 221, without being licensed as required in this article or Wis. Admin. Code ch. " Because § 18-39 sits in Article II alongside the county's other Environmental Sanitation licenses, an applicant follows the same process as a restaurant or bed-and-breakfast operator: submit a license application to the health department under § 18-22 with the required fee, wait up to 30 calendar days for the health officer's decision under § 18-23, post the license under § 18-26, and expect inspections under § 18-27 and the SPS 221 tattoo code the county has adopted.

Section 18-20 identifies the county as "an agent for the state department of safety and professional services under the provisions as set forth in Wis. Admin. Code ch. SPS 221," meaning the county health department, not a separate city or state office, is the licensing and inspection authority for tattoo and piercing shops in the towns it covers.