(a) No person shall engage in the occupation of registered hairdresser and cosmetician without having obtained a license from the department. Persons desiring such licenses shall apply in writing on forms furnished by the department. No license shall be issued, except a renewal of a license, to a registered hairdresser and cosmetician unless the applicant has shown to the satisfaction of the department that the applicant has complied with the laws and the regulations administered or adopted by the department. No applicant shall be licensed as a registered hairdresser and cosmetician, except by renewal of a license, until the applicant has made written application to the department, setting forth by affidavit that the applicant has (1) (A) successfully completed the ninth grade, (B) completed a course of not less than fifteen hundred hours of study in a school approved in accordance with the provisions of this chapter or in a school teaching hairdressing and cosmetology under the supervision of the State Board of Education, or, if trained outside of Connecticut, in a school teaching hairdressing and cosmetology whose requirements are equivalent to those of a Connecticut school, and (C) passed a written examination satisfactory to the department, or (2) if the applicant is an apprentice, (A) successfully completed the eighth grade, (B) completed an apprenticeship approved by the Labor Department and conducted in accordance with sections 31-22m to 31-22u, inclusive, and (C) passed a written examination satisfactory to the Department of Public Health. Examinations required for licensure under this chapter shall be prescribed by the department with the advice and assistance of the board. The department shall establish a passing score for examinations with the advice and assistance of the board which shall be the same as the passing score established in section 20-236.

(b) No person applying for licensure as a hairdresser and cosmetician under this chapter shall be required to submit to a state or national criminal history records check as a prerequisite to licensure.

(1949 Rev., S. 4590, 4591; 1957, P.A. 215; February, 1965, P.A. 363, S. 2; 1969, P.A. 822, S. 2, 3; 1971, P.A. 468, S. 2; 1972, P.A. 127, S. 47; P.A. 77-614, S. 302, 323, 610; P.A. 80-484, S. 112, 176; P.A. 81-471, S. 56, 71; P.A. 84-173, S. 2; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 98-43, S. 4; P.A. 01-195, S. 165, 181; P.A. 04-221, S. 15; P.A. 05-272, S. 12; P.A. 14-231, S. 37; P.A. 17-112, S. 2; 17-152, S. 1.)

History: 1965 act added 21-year and tenth-grade requirements and 3-year assistant’s license alternative and raised training and experience alternative from 3 years; 1969 act amended Subsec. (a) to add education requirements and amended Subsec. (c) to allow equivalency examination as alternative to tenth grade education; 1971 act deleted practical and oral segment of examination in Subsecs. (a) and (c); 1972 act reduced minimum age requirement in Subsec. (c) from 21 to 18, reflecting changed age of majority; P.A. 77-614 replaced secretary of the state board of education with commissioner of education and department of health with department of health services, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 80-484 deleted references to assistant hairdresser and cosmetician and instructor categories, including Subsecs. (b) and (d) which had contained licensing requirements for those categories, deleted requirement that applicants be “of good moral character”, redesignated remaining Subsecs. (a), (c) and (e) as (1), (2) and (3), deleted minimum age requirements in Subsecs. (1) and (2) and added provisions in Subsec. (2) re health services department’s responsibility for administering exams and establishing passing scores; P.A. 81-471 amended section to eliminate reference to operator’s license and qualifications, to delete the requirement that equivalency examinations be given concurrently with licensure examinations, to eliminate requirement of training under the personal supervision of a registered hairdresser and cosmetician and to insert a specific requirement of not less than 1,500 hours of study in an approved school and reduce the entry level educational requirement from tenth grade to ninth grade; P.A. 84-173 required examinations for licensure to be prescribed by the department with the advice and assistance of the board and required the board’s advice and assistance rather than consent in establishing a passing score; P.A. 93-381 replaced department of health services with department of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 98-43 changed education requirement from ninth grade to eighth grade; P.A. 01-195 made technical changes, effective July 11, 2001; P.A. 04-221 deleted requirements that department conduct equivalency and licensure examinations, and added provision re training at school outside state; P.A. 05-272 removed provision re equivalency examination prepared by Commissioner of Education; P.A. 14-231 replaced “eighth grade” with “ninth grade”, effective June 13, 2014; P.A. 17-112 designated existing provisions re persons engaged in occupation of registered hairdresser and cosmetician as Subsec. (a) designator, and added Subsec. (b) re submission to state or national criminal history records check as prerequisite to licensure; P.A. 17-152 designated existing provisions re successful completion of ninth grade, course of study in school and written examination as Subdiv. (1), added Subdiv. (2) re apprentice, and made technical and conforming changes.