Tattoo bill in the Oklahoma Legislature likely dead for the year

Monday, April 11th 2005, 8:23 pm

By: News On 6

Oklahoma will likely continue to be the only state to ban tattooing, at least for another year. The chairman of an Oklahoma state House committee says members have more pressing issues to consider than the "body art bill.â€

Tattooing has been illegal in Oklahoma since 1965, but tattoo parlors are openly advertising, and drumming up plenty of business. The Tulsa County District Attorney issued a misdemeanor arrest warrant for a Broken Arrow tattoo artist. He faces a possible $500 fine and 90 days in jail if convicted.

Clem Laurrel was arrested for tattooing more than 20 years ago. Since then, he's been lobbying to get the law changed. "The law's so outdated that it's not really prosecutable right now. Tattoos can be removed. I mean you can take these off with laser now and you can't even tell they were there, so they need to amend the law or they need to do something to get it going because it's not going to stop. Best thing to do is make it legal and safe."

Opponents of the body art bill say tattooing can spread disease. Health officials say "regulation" would actually curb the spread of blood borne illnesses like Hepatitis.