State Of South Carolina
Update on this state:
It is now
legal to tattoo in this state!
We don't have the new version of this law yet.
What you see below is the old version of the South Carolina Code:
TITLE 16 CRIMES AND OFFENSES
CHAPTER 1 Felonies and Misdemeanors; Accessories
16-1-100. Crimes
classified as misdemeanors.
(A) The following offenses are Class A misdemeanors and the maximum terms
established for a Class A misdemeanor, as set forth in Section 16-1-20(A),
apply:
16-17-700 Tattooing
§ 40-47-60. Practice of medicine or osteopathy restricted.
No person shall practice medicine, surgery or osteopathy within the State
unless he is twenty-one years of age and has been authorized so to do pursuant
to the provisions of this article. But nothing in this article shall be
construed:
(1) To prohibit service in cases of emergency or the domestic administration
of family remedies;
(2) To apply to those who practice the religious tenets of their church
without pretending a knowledge of medicine or surgery if the laws, rules and
regulations relating to contagious diseases and sanitary matters are not
violated; or
(3) To prohibit licensed druggists from selling, using and dispensing drugs
in their places of business, respectively.
(4) To apply to any act, task or function performed by an assistant to a
physician certified by the Board of Medical Examiners, provided that (a) such
assistant is approved and certified by the Board as one qualified by training or
experience to function as an assistant to a specified physician or a specified
physicians' group or professional association; and
(b) such act, task or
function is performed at the direction and under the supervision of such
physician, or physicians' group or professional association, in accordance
with rules and regulations promulgated by the Board. Provided, however, that
under no circumstances will these physicians' assistants nor optometrists'
assistants be allowed to make a refraction for glasses or give a contact lens
fitting.
(5) To prohibit a licensed physician from delegating tasks to unlicensed
personnel in his employ and on his premises if:
a. the task is of a routine nature involving neither the special skill of a
licensed person nor significant risk to the patient if improperly done;
b. the task is performed while the physician is present on the premises and
in such close proximity as to be readily available to the unlicensed person if
needed;
c. the task does not involve the verbal transmission of a physician's order
or prescription to a licensed person if the licensed person requires the order
or prescription to be in writing;
d. the unlicensed person wears an appropriate badge denoting to any patient
his status.
South Carolina Code
TITLE 16 CRIMES AND OFFENSES
CHAPTER 17 Offenses Against Public Policy
ARTICLE 7 MISCELLANEOUS OFFENSES
16-17-700. Tattooing.
It is unlawful for a person to tattoo any part of the body of another person.
It is not unlawful for a licensed physician or surgeon to tattoo part of a
patient's body if in his medical opinion it is necessary when performing
cosmetic or reconstructive surgery.
A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned
not more than one year, or both.
HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 395, eff April 29, 1986; 1993 Act No. 184, §§ 187, eff
January 1, 1994.
