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

00 per tattooer under the citywide fee schedule (§ 18-252, § 18-20). A tattoo shop can't double as sleeping quarters unless that room is fully separated by closable doors (§ 18-253). To be licensed, the shop room must be adequately lighted and ventilated, cannot sit close enough to a toilet or urinal for odors to penetrate the shop, and must have at least one washbowl of nonabsorbent material supplied with hot and cold running water (§ 18-254). Licensees must also comply with all sanitation rules the state department of registration and education prescribes for tattoo shops, as approved by the state director of public health (§ 18-255).

If the city manager or a representative suspects a tattooer has an infectious or contagious disease, that tattooer can be required to submit to a physical exam at their own expense, and must stop working immediately until a practicing physician certifies in writing that they're not so afflicted (§ 18-256). The city manager or a representative can inspect any licensed tattoo shop during business hours to check compliance (§ 18-257). Section 18-258 sets the article's core age restriction: it is an offense for anyone other than a person licensed to practice medicine in all its branches to tattoo, or offer to tattoo, a person under the age of 21, a stricter line than the 18-year-old threshold typically used for adult status.