Body Art

Gilmer County Health Department permits and routinely inspects tattoo studios and body piercing studios in accordance with W.V. Code 16-38 Tattoo Studio Business and W.V. 64 C.S.R. 80 Body Piercing Studio Business respectively.

To tattoo means to mark or color the skin by pricking in coloring matter so as to form indelible marks or figures or by the production of scars.  A tattoo studio is any room or space where tattooing is practiced or where the business of tattooing or any part there of is conducted.  West Virginia does not permit mobile or temporary tattoo studios, and tattoo artists are not required to be credentialed.  To obtain a permit for a tattoo studio, business owners must submit a completed Application for a Permit to Operate with payment of applicable fees to Gilmer County Health Department.    Gilmer County Health Department may issue an operational permit following an initial compliance inspection.  Permits are issued annually and expire on June 30th.

Body piercing is the act of producing a permanent hole by piercing or puncturing any part of the body with instruments intended to leave an opening in body tissue into which an appropriate device may be inserted.  This is done through the use of needles, needle bars, needle tubes, forceps, hemostats, tweezers, pliers or other instrument, and includes any studs, hoops, rings, and other decorative materials or apparatuses intended for placement in the hole resulting from the piercing.  A body piercing studio is any room, shop, space or vehicle where body piercing is performed.  Body piercing studios do not include establishments dedicated solely to ear piercing by the means of a piercing gun.  Unlike tattoo studios, West Virginia does permit mobile and temporary body piercing studios, and body piercing technicians must be registered with the West Virginia Office of Environmental Health Sanitation.  To obtain a permit, studio owners must submit a completed Application for a Permit to Operate with payment of applicable fees to Gilmer County Health Department.  Additionally, new body piercing studios must submit Body Piercing Studio Plan Review Information Report to Gilmer County Health Department.  Gilmer County Health Department may issue an operational permit following an initial compliance inspection.  Permits are issued annually and expire on June 30th.  Body piercing technicians can register with the state either through the submission of a completed Body Piercing Technician Certificate of Registration Application with payment of applicable fees as instructed on the application, or electronically.  Additional information about technician training and certification is available from the West Virginia Office of Environmental Health Sanitation.