New Mexico Register / Volume XXXVI,
Issue 24 / December 23, 2025
This is an
amendment to 16.36.4 NMAC, Section 8 effective 12/23/2025.
16.36.4.8 ENFORCEMENT, COMPLAINTS AND DISCIPLINARY
ACTION:
A. A member of the board,
its employees or agents may enter and inspect [a school,] an
enterprise or establishment at any time [during regular business hours]
for the purpose of determining compliance with the Body Art Safe Practices Act.
B. It
shall be unlawful for any artist to perform body piercing or tattoo procedures
outside of a licensed body piercing or tattooing establishment or at a board
approved special event.
C. It
shall constitute a violation of the Body Art Safe Practices Act when a
licensee:
(1) attempts
by means of any threat, force, intimidation or violence to deter, interfere
with or prevent any inspector or board designee from performing any official
duty of the department or board;
(2) willfully
resists, delays or obstructs an inspector or board designee in the performance
of his/her official duty;
(3) fails
to comply with the lawful command of an inspector or board designee in the
discharge of his/her official duty; or
(4) fails
to cooperate
in investigations, proceedings, and requirements of this code.
D. The board, or
its designee, will consider a formal complaint filed against a licensee or an
establishment provided the complaint is on the proper form, signed under
penalty of perjury.
E. When a complaint
is received [on the proper form,] the board, or its designee, will [write
to the licensee the complaint is against and] request a response within [15]
10 days of receipt of such request.
F. The [response]
case will be reviewed by a committee designated by the board chairman.
G. [If the committee's
recommendation is that the complaint be taken before the board, the complaint
will be reviewed at the next regularly scheduled board meeting. The board shall:] The committee will
make recommendations to be taken to the board at the next regularly scheduled
board meeting.
[(1) take no further action; or
(2) issue
a notice of contemplated action (NCA) under the Uniform Licensing Act; or
(3) assess
an administrative penalty subject to appropriate procedural requirements and
safeguards.]
H. [Any hearing
held pursuant to the complaint shall conform with the provisions of the Uniform
Licensing Act and the Body Art Safe Practices Act.] The board may fine,
deny, revoke, suspend, or otherwise limit a license if the board determines the
licensee is guilty of violating any of the provisions of the act, the Uniform
Licensing Act, or these rules.
I. [The board may
fine, deny, revoke, suspend, stipulate, or otherwise limit a license if the
board determines the licensee is guilty of violating any of the provisions of
the act, the Uniform Licensing Act, or these rules.] Any hearing held
pursuant to the complaint shall conform with the provisions of the Uniform
Licensing Act and the Body Art Safe Practices Act.
J. Subject
to legally required procedural safeguards, any person who violates any
provisions of the act or any rule adopted by the board may incur, in addition
to any other penalty provided by law, a civil penalty in an amount of less than
one hundred fifty dollars ($150) for each violation. The board will serve on the licensee official
notice of any such fine that the board proposes to assess. Failure to pay a fine, once properly
assessed, may result in an additional fine and revocation of license or other
disciplinary action. The penalties to be
assessed are as follows:
(1) Failure
to comply with operator requirements:
(a) first
offense: one hundred dollars ($100);
(b) second
offense: one hundred fifty dollars
($150);
(c) third
and subsequent offenses: the board shall
take steps to impose a further fine up to the limit of one hundred fifty
dollars ($150) or to take other disciplinary action as permitted by the act or
the New Mexico Uniform Licensing Act.
(2) Failure
to comply with sanitation and safety requirements:
(a) first
offense: one hundred dollars ($100);
(b) second
offense: one hundred fifty dollars [($150;)]
($150);
(c) third
and subsequent offenses: the board shall
take steps to impose a further fine up to the limit of one hundred fifty
dollars ($150) or to take other disciplinary action as permitted by the act or
the New Mexico Uniform Licensing Act.
(3) Failure
to post required licenses:
(a) first
offense: fifty dollars ($50);
(b) second
offense: one hundred fifty dollars
($150);
(c) third
and subsequent offenses: the board shall
take steps to impose a further fine up to the limit of one hundred fifty
dollars ($150) or to take other disciplinary action as permitted by the act or
the New Mexico Uniform Licensing Act.
(4) [Working on an expired or invalid
license:
(a) first
offense: fifty dollars ($50);
(b) second
offense: one hundred fifty dollars
($150);
(c) third
and subsequent offenses: the board shall
take steps to impose a further fine up to the limit of one hundred fifty
dollars ($150) or to take other disciplinary action as permitted by the act or
the New Mexico Uniform Licensing Act] Any
violation of the Body Art Safe Practices Act or rules:
(a) first
offense: one hundred dollars ($100);
(b) second
offense: one hundred fifty dollars
($150);
(c) third
and subsequent offenses: the board shall
take steps to impose a further fine up to the limit of one hundred fifty
dollars ($150) or to take other disciplinary action as permitted by the act or
the New Mexico Uniform Licensing Act.
(5) any unlicensed activity is subject to discipline pursuant to the provisions
of the New Mexico Uniform Licensing Act.
[(5) Performing services for compensation in an unlicensed
establishment:
(a) first
offense: one hundred dollars ($100);
(b) second
offense: one hundred fifty dollars
($150);
(c) third
and subsequent offenses: the board shall
take steps to impose a further fine up to the limit of one hundred fifty
dollars ($150) or to take other disciplinary action as permitted by the act or
the New Mexico Uniform Licensing Act.
(6) Any violation of the Body Art
Safe Practices Act or rules:
(a) first
offense: one hundred dollars ($100);
(b) second offense:
one hundred fifty dollars ($150);
(c) third and subsequent offenses: the board shall take steps to impose a
further fine up to the limit of one hundred fifty dollars ($150) or to take
other disciplinary action as permitted by the act or the New Mexico Uniform
Licensing Act.]
K. The
board may suspend a license immediately without prior notice to the holder of
the license if it determines, after inspection, that conditions within a body
art establishment present a substantial danger of illness, serious physical
harm or death to customers who might patronize a body art establishment. A suspension action taken pursuant to this
section is effective when communicated to the operator or body artist. Suspension action taken pursuant to this
section shall not continue beyond the time that the conditions causing the
suspension cease to exist, as determined by a board inspection at the request
of the operator or body artist. A
license holder may request an administrative hearing, as provided by Section
61-17B-5 NMSA 1978 of the Body Art Safe Practices Act, if the board does not
lift an immediate suspension within 10 days.
L. If all continuing education requirements are not met by
the expiration date of the license or granted extensions date, the license
shall be subject to disciplinary action.
M. Failure of a licensee to furnish the board within 10
business days of request, its investigators or representatives with information
requested by the Board;
(1) failure to appear before the
board when requested by the board in any disciplinary proceeding;
(2) failure to be in compliance
with the Parental Responsibility Act Section 40-5A-3 NMSA 1978 seq.;
(3) fraudulent record keeping;
(4) failure to comply with Continuing
Education Audit as defined in 16.28.2.9 NMAC.
[16.36.4.8 NMAC -
Rp, 16.36.4.8 NMAC, 2/4/2016, A, 2/3/2022; A, 12/23/2025]