Sioux Falls, SD Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)
Key Facts
- Establishment license
- required, city-issued
- Artist license
- required for every tattoo artist
- Premises inspection
- required before licensing
- Off-site tattooing
- prohibited outside licensed shop
- Max general penalty
- $500 fine / 30 days jail
Summary
Sioux Falls requires a city license to operate a tattoo establishment and a separate license for every working tattoo artist.
No person shall engage in, conduct or carry on, or permit to be engaged in, conducted or carried on, in or upon any premises within the city a tattoo establishment, unless a tattoo establishment license has been issued by the city... Physicians and surgeons licensed under the provisions of SDCL 36-4 are exempt from the requirements of this chapter.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-135: Current through local ordinance 54-26, passed 7-14-2026).
Full Breakdown
No one may run a tattoo establishment in Sioux Falls without a license issued by the city, and every tattoo artist working there must separately hold a city tattoo artist license. Establishments must pass a health department premises inspection before licensing, and tattooing is barred outside a licensed establishment. Physicians and surgeons licensed under SDCL 36-4 are exempt.
Violations & Fines
Operating a tattoo establishment or working as a tattoo artist without the required city license, or tattooing someone outside a licensed establishment, is a Code violation; absent a specific penalty the general penalty applies -- a fine up to $500, up to 30 days in the county jail, or both, with each day treated as a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get tattooed anywhere in Sioux Falls?
Do individual tattoo artists need their own license?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Sioux Falls
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