Ink Masters Jackson Mississippi Tattoo Expo

The organizer's own requirement is one line long: 'All Artist and Piercers must have an approved BBP Certificate', on the individual artist inquiry form, with a link to a list of approved bloodborne pathogens courses. That is the entire organizer-published licensing position for this show. What actually governs the floor is Mississippi law, and it is considerably heavier. Every person tattooing or piercing for money in Mississippi must hold a current Certificate of Registration from the Mississippi State Department of Health, and the department runs a specific registration route for conventions and expos: a Provisional Certificate of Registration for tattoo conventions or expos, which requires the applicant to be over 18, to work under the direct on-site supervision of someone holding a Regular Certificate at a registered establishment, to have completed the American Red Cross Preventing Disease Transmission course or an equivalent, and to file a copy of their current out-of-state licence. Registration costs $50 for a Mississippi licensed artist and $100 for one licensed elsewhere, plus a $30 late fee inside 30 days. The organizer never mentions any of this and never names the Department. A visitor who wants to check an artist can ask to see the certificate: the regulations require it to be displayed conspicuously

The ORGANIZER publishes no sterilisation, single use, sharps or workstation standard of any kind, for this show or for the circuit. Do not read that as an absence of rules; it is an absence of organizer statements. The Mississippi regulations that bind every artist on that floor require, among other things, that all non-disposable equipment be scrubbed with a blood dissolving chemical and disinfectant, run through an ultrasonic unit, then sealed in an individually dated self-sealing sterilization pouch with indicators and autoclaved; that single use equipment and jewellery requiring sterilisation go through the same pouching and autoclave step; that sterilising equipment and chemicals be kept in a room walled off from any work area; that a breached pouch or an expired one voids sterility; and that autoclave performance be spore tested monthly. The Department inspects registered premises at least once a year. None of this has been confirmed as inspected at this specific event, and no state or county officer is named as attending

The organizer publishes no consent form and no aftercare guidance. Mississippi requires both, from the artist. A signed consent form is mandatory for every procedure, with a photocopy of the client's original government-issued photo ID attached, and it must record the artist's Department registration number, the supervisor's name where the artist holds only a Provisional certificate, the establishment, the date, the client's name, address, phone, sex and date of birth, the body location, acknowledgement of the risks, acknowledgement that printed aftercare was received, and a statement that the client is not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Forms are kept for at least two years and must be produced to the Department on request. Separately, every client must be handed printed aftercare instructions BEFORE the tattooing starts, covering care and cleaning of the specific area, the signs and symptoms of infection, and an instruction to consult a medical professional if those appear. Expect to be asked for ID and to sign; if an artist skips the paperwork, that is not a shortcut in your favour

Nothing published. Neither the organizer nor the venue publishes a bag policy, security screening, medical or first aid arrangement, or incident procedure for this event. Mississippi's practitioner conduct rules do bar anyone from tattooing or piercing while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or with an exposed rash, lesion, boil or infection, and equally bar working on a client who appears intoxicated or who has a rash, lesion, pimple, boil, infection or other unhealthy condition on the area to be worked. Those are legal duties on the artist, not a stated organizer procedure

Mississippi regulates body art at STATE level, through the Mississippi State Department of Health's Office of Licensure, under Title 15 Part 19 Subpart 60 Chapter 11 and Miss. Code Ann. Sections 73-61-1 and 73-61-3. There is no separate Hinds County or City of Jackson body art permit in play, which is a real difference from shows in states such as Massachusetts or Colorado where a local board of health licenses the event itself. Practical consequence: there is no county-issued event licence to look for at the door here, and the accountability sits on each individual artist's state certificate