Wis. Stat. § 463.12 — WI Code / Chapter 463 / Section 463.12
Regulation of body piercing and body-piercing establishments.
Status: in_force

(1) Definitions. In this section:

(a) “Body piercer” means a person who performs body piercing on another.

(b) “Body piercing” means perforating any human body part or human tissue, except an ear, and placing a foreign object in the perforation in order to prevent the perforation from closing.

(c) “Body-piercing establishment” means the premises where a body piercer performs body piercing.

(2) Department; duty. Except as provided in s. 463.14 , the department shall provide uniform, statewide licensing and regulation of body piercers and uniform, statewide licensing and regulation of body-piercing establishments under this section. The department shall inspect a body-piercing establishment once before issuing a license for the body-piercing establishment under this section and may make additional inspections that the department determines are necessary.

(3) License required. Except as provided in sub. (5) , no person may pierce the body of or attempt to pierce the body of another, designate or represent himself or herself as a body piercer or use or assume the title “body piercer” unless the person is licensed by the department under this section or by a local health department that is designated as the department’s agent under s. 463.16 . Except as provided in s. 463.16 , fees for licenses issued under this section shall be as determined under s. 440.03 (9) .

(4) Rule making. The department shall promulgate all of the following as rules:

(a) Except as provided in s. 463.14 and subject to sub. (4m) , standards and procedures for the annual issuance of licenses as body piercers or as body-piercing establishments to applicants under this section.

(b) Standards for the performance of body piercing by a licensed body piercer and for the maintenance of a licensed body-piercing establishment, which will promote safe and adequate care and treatment for individuals who receive body piercing and eliminate or greatly reduce the danger of exposure by these individuals to communicable disease or infection.

(4m) Military experience. Any relevant education, training, instruction, or other experience that an applicant has obtained in connection with military service, as defined in s. 111.32 (12g) , counts toward satisfying standards related to education, training, instruction, or other experience for issuing a license as a body piercer if the applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department that the education, training, instruction, or other experience that the applicant obtained in connection with his or her military service is substantially equivalent to the education, training, instruction, or other experience that is required for the issuance of a license for a body piercer.

(5) Exception. Subsections (2) to (4m) do not apply to a dentist, dental therapist, or physician who pierces the body of or offers to pierce the body of a person in the course of the dentist’s, dental therapist’s, or physician’s professional practice.

(6) Local regulation. No city, village, town, or county may enact or enforce an ordinance that does any of the following:

(a) Regulates body-piercing establishments or the practice of body piercing, except as permitted under s. 463.16 (6) .

(b) Requires local licenses, other than licenses issued by local health departments designated as the department’s agent under s. 463.16 , for body-piercing establishments or for the practice of body piercing.

History: 1995 a. 468 ; 1997 a. 191 , 237 ; 1999 a. 32 ; 2011 a. 120 , 209 ; 2013 a. 165 ; 2015 a. 55 s. 4042 ; Stats. 2015 s. 463.12; 2017 a. 329 ; 2023 a. 87 , 88 ; 2025 a. 128 .