(A)(1) The department must not grant or issue a license to a tattoo facility, if the place of business is within one thousand feet of a church, school, or playground. This distance must be computed by following the shortest route of ordinary pedestrian or vehicular travel along the public thoroughfare from the nearest point of the grounds in use as part of the church, school, or playground.

(2) As used in this subsection:

(a) "Church" means an establishment, other than a private dwelling, where religious services are usually conducted.

(b) "School" means an establishment, other than a private dwelling where the usual processes of education are usually conducted.

(c) "Playground" means a place, other than grounds at a private dwelling that is provided by the public or members of a community for recreation.

(3) The restrictions in subsection (A)(1) do not apply to the renewal of licenses or to new applications for locations that are licensed at the time the new application is filed with the department.

(B) An applicant for license renewal or for a new license at an existing tattoo facility location shall pay a certification fee established by the department in regulation to determine if the exemptions provided for in subsection (A)(3) apply.

(C) A person who intends to apply for a license under this article must advertise at least once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper circulated nearest to the proposed location of the business and most likely to give notice to interested citizens of the county, city, and community in which the applicant proposes to engage in business. The department shall determine which newspapers meet the requirements of this section based on available circulation figures and the proposed location of the business. However, if a newspaper is published in the county and historically has been the newspaper where the advertisements are published, the advertisements published in that newspaper meet the requirements of this subsection. The notice must be in the legal notice section of the paper, or in an equivalent section if the newspaper has no legal notice section, and must be in large type, cover a space one column wide and not less than two inches deep, and state the type of license applied for and the exact location at which the proposed business is to be operated.

HISTORY: 2004 Act No. 250, Section 1, eff June 17, 2004.