50-48-102. Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following definitions apply:
     (1) "Body piercing" means penetrating the skin to make a hole, mark, or scar that is generally permanent in nature.
     (2) "Department" means the department of public health and human services provided for in 2-15-2201.
     (3) "Establishment" means either a body-piercing operation, a tattooing operation, or a combination of both operations in a multiple-type establishment.
     (4) "Local board of health" means a county, city, city-county, or district board of health provided for in Title 50, chapter 2.
     (5) "Local health officer" has the meaning provided in 50-1-101.
     (6) "Multiple-type establishment" means an operation encompassing both body piercing and tattooing on the same premises and under the same management.
     (7) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other entity engaged in the business of operating, owning, or offering the services of body piercing or tattooing.
     (8) "Regulatory authority" means the department of public health and human services, the local board of health, the local health officer, or the local sanitarian.
     (9) (a) "Tattooing" means making permanent marks on the skin of a live human being by puncturing the skin and inserting indelible colors. The term includes imparting permanent makeup on the skin such as permanent lip coloring and permanent eyeliner.
     (b) The term does not include:
     (i) the practice of electrology as defined in 37-31-101; or
     (ii) the use by a physician or medical professional who is licensed to practice in the state of Montana of colors, dyes, or pigments for the purpose of obscuring scar tissue or imparting color to the skin for cosmetic, medical, or figurative purposes.

     History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 386, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 8, Ch. 150, L. 2007.