Can you go to jail in Illinois if you get a tattoo before turning 18?

Publish date: 2024-05-08

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Illinois lowered the legal age for a person to get a tattoo from 21 to 18 in 2006.

But no one under the age of 18 can get a tattoo in Illinois, even with a parent or guardian’s permission.

The other problem is a lot of tattoo shops might not follow the new law, especially if the teen has their parent’s consent. We’re not tattooing anyone under 18, but there are going to be other shops that will, ultimately giving all shops a bad name,” Leon Battiste, manager of Artkore Tattoos in Normal, told VidetteOnline.

Illinois actually considers it a crime to tattoo anyone under the age of 18, or for anyone under the age of 18 to even be on the premises of a tattoo parlor.

So, if you get a tattoo and you’re under 18, you won’t go to jail — but your tattoo artist could lose their license and face a fine.

Tattoo shops also need to be licensed. Tattooing from a home or any other unlicensed premises is forbidden.

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