Pawtucket, RI Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

Chapter 360, "Tattoo Parlors," was adopted June 21, 2000 (Ch. No. 2565). Section 360-1 sets the dual-approval structure: no one may operate a tattoo business without first obtaining a certificate of zoning compliance allowing the use under the City's Zoning Ordinance, and separately, no one may operate a tattooing establishment without a tattoo license issued by the City Council, a licensing layer added by a December 2000 amendment (Ch. No. 2586). Section 360-2 requires a sworn, duplicate written application to the City Clerk disclosing the applicant's identity, all partners, officers and stockholders, and the tattooing location.

Section 360-3 routes one copy to the Chief of Police, who reports the applicant's full arrest and conviction record, and the other to the State Department of Health, which independently inspects the site for running water, sterilization capacity and compliance with the State's tattoo-artist rules; no license issues unless both sign off. Section 360-4 sets the fee at $175 a year, running each calendar year from January 1 to December 31, and § 360-6 sets a $20 fee to transfer a license to a new location versus the full $175 to transfer it to a new owner.

Section 360-7 requires the City Council to hold a public hearing, advertised weekly for at least two weeks in a local daily paper, before granting any license. Section 360-8 lets the Council revoke a license for fraud, misrepresentation, a moral-turpitude conviction, a chapter violation, or the Health Department's own revocation order, the last of which skips the applicant's hearing right entirely.