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

Ch. 13(1) makes it a violation to operate a tattooing establishment, body-piercing establishment, or combined establishment unless a license for the establishment has first been obtained. Subsection (2) separately requires that every practitioner working in the establishment hold a current license issued under chapter SPS 221, Wis. Admin. Code, or this subchapter; an establishment can be licensed while still violating the ordinance if an unlicensed practitioner works there. 14 extends licensing to special events, requiring the Health Department to license each temporary table, booth or area as a separate temporary establishment, and every practitioner at that event must also hold a current State of Wisconsin practitioner's license.

Applications must be filed 30 days before the desired issuance date under sec. 15, and the licensing year runs July 1 through the following June 30. Renewal fees are due by June 30 under sec. 17, and a late renewal draws a 25% late-filing fee unless the applicant stops all tattooing and piercing activity until the renewal issues. Establishments found in violation are also subject to a re-inspection fee and, under sec. 16(4), a special condition inspection fee for consultations that are not directly related to the department's routine licensing and inspection responsibilities under this chapter.