AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TATTOO PARLORS, BODY PIERCING ESTABLISHMENTS, AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

Legislation Document

SPONSOR:

Rep. Neal & Sen. Poore & Rep. K. Williams

Reps. Kamela Smith, Snyder-Hall, Burns, Ross Levin, Romer; Sens. Pinkney, Pettyjohn, Buckson, Hansen, Huxtable

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 324

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TATTOO PARLORS, BODY PIERCING ESTABLISHMENTS, AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend § 122, Title 16 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§ 122. Powers and duties of the Department of Health and Social Services [For application of this section, see 84 Del. Laws, c. 434, § 3].

The Department shall have the following general powers and duties:

(3) Adopt, promulgate, amend, and repeal regulations consistent with law, which regulations shall not extend, modify or conflict with any law of this State or the reasonable implications thereof, and which shall be enforced by all state and local public health officials, to do all of the following:

w. Establish standards for the sanitary

and safe

operation of tattoo parlors and body piercing establishments. For purposes of this paragraph, “tattoo parlor” means a person or business that makes permanent marks on human skin by puncturing the skin and inserting an indelible color or by producing scarring. For purposes of this paragraph, “body piercing establishment” means a person or business that perforates any human body part or human tissue and places a foreign object in the perforation for nonmedical purposes except for a person or business that perforates only ears.

1.

Upon receipt of an application for a permit and a permit fee of $100, the Department of Health and Social Services shall issue a permit to a tattoo parlor or body piercing establishment if it meets the requirements established under Department regulations.

2.

The Secretary

shall be

is

authorized to issue restricted, provisional and other types of permits and to revoke or suspend any permit in accordance with Department regulations. A permit, unless sooner suspended or revoked,

shall

may

be renewed annually upon filing by the permittee and payment of an annual permit fee of $100, provided that an applicant meets the requirements set forth in Department regulations.

3. The Department must require tattoo parlors to post a visible sign raising awareness about human trafficking in the tattoo parlor’s window or equivalent location. The sign or required language or specifications for the sign may be provided or developed by or in conjunction with the Delaware Anti-Trafficking Action Council.

4. The Department must provide or make available to tattoo parlors and body piercing establishments a list of nonprofit organizations that provide online or in-person training on human trafficking. The Department must encourage tattoo parlors and body piercing establishments to have employees, contractors, or other individuals working at the establishment take such training. The training should focus on how to recognize the signs of human trafficking, how to respond to those signs, how to refer a client to resources for victims of human trafficking, and reporting signs of human trafficking to the National Human Trafficking Hotline and local law enforcement. The training must be available at no cost to any individual who works at a tattoo parlor or body piercing establishment and must be conducted by a nonprofit organization approved by the Secretary in coordination with the Delaware Anti-Trafficking Action Council. An individual who completes the training must be provided with a certificate of completion.

Section 2. This Act takes effect 1 year after its enactment into law.

SYNOPSIS

This Act requires tattoo parlors to post signs raising awareness about human trafficking. This Act also requires the Department of Health and Social Services to encourage tattoo parlors and body piercing establishments to have individuals working for them complete training on recognizing, responding, and reporting signs of human trafficking, as well as referring clients to resources for victims of human trafficking. The Department must provide or make available to tattoo parlors and body piercing establishments a list of nonprofit organizations that provide this training, which must be available at no cost to any person who works at a tattoo parlor or body piercing establishment. This Act takes effect 1 year after its enactment into law.