South Dakota

What the form asks in South Dakota

South Dakota’s rule names things the standard waiver form did not ask. A shop in South Dakota gets them by default: the questions on its form, the rest on its record in the shop app.

• An allergies question: medicines, ointments, soaps, latex, anything put on the skin“The consent form shall request information about medical problems that can cause the patron difficulty afterwards ... allergic reaction to certain metals or medications” (S.D. Admin. R. 44:12:02:13 (body piercing))
• A bleeding-disorder question“The consent form shall request information about medical problems that can cause the patron difficulty afterwards ... hemophilia, blood clotting problems” (S.D. Admin. R. 44:12:02:13 (body piercing))
• The medications and blood thinners question, always on“The consent form shall request information about medical problems that can cause the patron difficulty afterwards ... use of anticoagulation medications which may cause bleeding problems” (S.D. Admin. R. 44:12:02:13 (body piercing))
• Aftercare instructions, acknowledged in the consent (on every form)“The artist shall provide written instructions regarding the proper care and precautions for a new or newly removed tattoo to each patron.” (S.D. Admin. R. 44:12:01:32.01; body piercing, 44:12:02:26)

What the record must capture

• Patron name
• Patron address
• Patron age
• The consent form
• The locations and description of the tattoos

The state rule makes you record the patron's age but names no ID check. Your city may ask for more, Sioux Falls, for instance, wants a government photo ID from license applicants.

"This record must be available for inspection and kept for a period of at least two years." — S.D. Admin. R. 44:12:01:15

A license on a phone in South Dakota

South Dakota does not issue a digital license. A license on a phone is not an ID a shop here can rely on.

What we read: SDCL ch. 32-12 (Drivers' Licenses) full text via the South Dakota Legislature's API (sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/32-12.html?all=true), 2026-09-11, searched for mobile/digital/electronic license language: none (only 'digital photograph' on the card and electronic Selective Service forwarding). SD DPS driver licensing pages (dps.sd.gov, which now redirect into sd.gov/dps) name no mobile license. No 2025-26 bill found. Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and TSA lists (2026-09-11): South Dakota absent.

On waivers.tattoo: a shop can let its clients choose a saved photo of their ID in Settings. It starts off, and in South Dakota a saved photo is only ever a picture of a card: a copy for your file, never proof of age.

Minors

18+. Minors only with conditions. South Dakota sets no floor age. A minor may be tattooed if the minor's parents or legal guardian have signed a consent form authorizing it, and you have to post a notice, where clients can see it, saying it is illegal to tattoo anyone under 18 without that signed consent. Doing it without consent is a Class 2 misdemeanor under SDCL 26-10-19. The rule's own words: "A minor may not be tattooed or to have a tattoo removed unless the minor's parents or legal guardian have signed a consent form authorizing the tattoo or tattoo removal." The notice says "it is illegal to tattoo or to remove a tattoo from any person under the age of 18 without the parents' or legal guardian's signed consent" (ARSD 44:12:01:13), and the patron's record keeps the "consent form" (44:12:01:15). The statute names the parents only: "No minor may be tattooed unless the minor's parents have signed a consent form authorizing the tattoo." (SDCL 26-10-19), and so does Sioux Falls's ordinance: "Minors may not be tattooed unless the minor’s parents have signed a consent form authorizing the tattoo." (City Code § 122.056(b)). Nothing asks for the parent in the room, an ID or a notary.

"A minor may not be tattooed or to have a tattoo removed unless the minor's parents or legal guardian have signed a consent form authorizing the tattoo or tattoo removal." - S.D. Admin. R. 44:12:01:13

On waivers.tattoo: turn on Tattooing under 18 in Settings and a client under 18 gets a parent-or-guardian section — who they are, how they are related, their own signature, and a photo of their ID. The signed waiver prints what South Dakota requires.

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. The minor's parents or legal guardian have to sign a consent form authorizing the piercing. The rule asks for nothing else, no presence, no ID, no notary, and the shop has to post a notice saying a piercing under 18 without that signed consent is illegal.

The chapter's definition of body piercing names no ear exception at all, so an earlobe is covered like any other site.

S.D. Admin. R. 44:12:02:13 The text

On waivers.tattoo: turn on Piercing under 18 in Settings and a client under 18 gets a parent-or-guardian section — who they are, how they are related, their own signature, and a photo of their ID. The signed waiver prints what South Dakota requires.

What the consent form must say

"A tattoo or saline tattoo removal artist may not provide services to a patron without first obtaining a signed consent." - S.D. Admin. R. 44:12:01:13

Health history and aftercare

The state rule requires no health-history questionnaire for a tattoo, but it bars tattooing anyone with a visible skin lesion or infection, anyone known or suspected to have a contagious disease in a communicable stage, and anyone under the influence of alcohol or mind-altering drugs. For a body piercing, the consent form itself has to ask about medical problems that can cause trouble afterward: diabetes, an allergy to certain metals or medications, hemophilia or other clotting problems, and anticoagulants. Written care instructions go to every patron, and for a tattoo the rule names the 5 things they have to recommend: removing the bandage, washing the area, an antibacterial ointment, keeping out of direct sun, swimming, soaking and scratching, and calling your doctor if redness or swelling develops.

"The artist shall provide written instructions regarding the proper care and precautions for a new or newly removed tattoo to each patron." — S.D. Admin. R. 44:12:01:32.01

Texting your clients in South Dakota

9am to 9pm, the client’s local time. Never on Sundays. S.D. Codified Laws § 37-30A-1 et seq. (Telemarketing); hours and Sunday ban at § 37-30A-3(2); definitions at § 37-30A-1; exclusions at § 37-30A-8; damages at § 37-30A-14, in force since 2020-07-01. It names text messages, so a text counts.

Consent. The chapter sets no affirmative consent standard. It regulates only an "unsolicited consumer telephone communication," and a text is not unsolicited if it is sent in response to an express request of the person texted, in connection with an existing debt or contract, or "[t]o any person with whom the telemarketer has an existing business relationship" (SDCL § 37-30A-1(5)).

Your own clients. Yes, twice over, and with no time limit. (1) SDCL § 37-30A-1(5)(c): a communication "[t]o any person with whom the telemarketer has an existing business relationship" is not an "unsolicited consumer telephone communication," so the 9am-9pm/no-Sunday rule does not reach it. (2) SDCL § 37-30A-8(1) takes the whole chapter off "a merchant who operates an established business that has a fixed permanent location, who displays or offers consumer goods or services for sale on a continuing basis, and less than twenty-five percent of total new sales are made by unsolicited consumer telephone communications", which describes a tattoo shop. Section 37-30A-8(2) adds a "clear, preexisting business relationship" exclusion.

It reaches your sender too. A service that texts on your behalf is inside this rule with you. Hiring one does not move the duty off the shop.

Place unsolicited consumer telephone communications to any residence which will be received before 9 a.m. or after 9 p.m. at the consumer's local time or place any unsolicited consumer telephone communications on Sunday The text

Private right of action, but only for a WILLFUL act or practice: SDCL § 37-30A-14 gives a consumer "twice the actual damages suffered or five hundred dollars, whichever is greater," plus court costs and attorney fees. A willful violation is also a Class 1 misdemeanor (§§ 37-30A-13, -16).

Federal law is the floor under it: 8am to 9pm, the client’s local time, prior express written consent for a marketing text, and a STOP honored within 10 business days (47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(1), (e)).

What to do

• Ask separately. A yes to marketing texts belongs on its own tick, not folded into the box a client has to accept to get tattooed. Keep it with the date and what it said.
• Text between 9am to 9pm, the client’s local time, and never on Sundays. An area code is not where somebody lives, so when you cannot tell, use the tighter window.
• Honor a STOP that day. Federal law gives you 10 business days. Same-day is the version nobody argues with, and it is what the carriers expect.
• Keep the count low. South Dakota sets no cap and neither does federal law, but a shop that texts a client more than a couple of times a month is teaching them to reply STOP.

Who inspects you

The state writes the floor and stops there, no state permit, no state artist license. Any municipality may license tattoo artists, license and inspect shops, and set sanitation standards, as long as they are at least as strict as the Department of Health's. In practice the city you are in is who you register with.

Tattooing and Body Piercing minimum sanitation standards (ARSD art. 44:12)

• City of Sioux Falls, Licensing (Health Department), City Code ch. 122 · Sioux Falls, the state's largest city
• City of Sturgis, Tattoo and Body Piercing License (City Code ch. 11.06) · City of Sturgis (Meade County)
  Stricter than the state. Sturgis licenses every tattoo and piercing artist individually, $560 plus a $100 inspection fee, with a written affidavit of being over 18 and a current photo, and inspects each year. The source
• City of Summerset, tattooing and body piercing license (City Code § 110.04) · City of Summerset (Meade County)
  Stricter than the state. Summerset's code requires a city license to tattoo or pierce, microblading included, and has the city inspect every shop against the state health department's sanitation standards. The section names no fee. The source

The rules include an inspection section and inspection fees, and the patron records must be available for inspection; in a city like Sioux Falls the city licensing office is the door you deal with.

Licensing

Your shop. No state license. Whether you need a shop license depends on your city, Sioux Falls, for one, licenses both the shop and every artist in it under City Code ch. 122.

Your artists. No state artist license either. Cities that regulate typically license the artist as well and want bloodborne-pathogen training and a photo ID with the application.

Guest artists and conventions. South Dakota licenses no one at the state level; cities may license artists, so a guest spot or a booth answers to the city's rules, and the state's sanitation rules cover a temporary site used for up to 30 days. In practice Sturgis licenses every artist through the city for the year, Rally or not. The record is the artist's, kept at least 2 years: "A tattoo or saline tattoo removal artist shall keep a record of each patron".

SDCL 9-34-17; ARSD 44:12:01:15 The text

The licensing page

Using a generic waiver app in South Dakota

A generic waiver app is one form builder for every industry — rafting outfits, gyms, trampoline parks and tattoo shops all start from the same blank template. The tattoo part is yours: you write the questions, you keep them current when the rule changes, and you find out whether you got it right when an inspector reads your file.

In South Dakota that is 3 things to set up and keep in step yourself:

• An allergies question: medicines, ointments, soaps, latex, anything put on the skin
• A bleeding-disorder question
• The medications and blood thinners question, always on

On waivers.tattoo, a shop in South Dakota gets all of it the day it starts. Your page opens with South Dakota’s questions already on the form, your client signs on their own phone, and the signed waiver prints what they answered.

South Dakota in our state-by-state posts

• 19 states give a guest tattoo artist a short-term license, 11 never license the artist, and the signed waivers stay with the shop in almost every state
• Do you need a license to tattoo? 36 states license the shop, 29 license the artist, 10 license neither
• How often does the health inspector come to a tattoo shop? 15 states set a clock. 14 say nothing.
• Who inspects your tattoo shop? The regulator in every state, and the number to call first
• Texting your tattoo clients: the hours, the caps, and all 51 state rules
• Can a minor get a tattoo with parental consent? State by state
• Can a minor get a piercing with parental consent? 45 states say yes, each on its own terms
• Do you have to ask health questions before a tattoo? 21 states say yes. Here are the questions.
• Do you have to give tattoo aftercare instructions in writing? 40 states say yes.
• What has to be on a tattoo consent form? 33 states say. Here is every line they name.
• 27 states make you check ID before a tattoo. The other 24 give you a reason to.
• How long do you have to keep tattoo consent forms? Every state, one table