Pen. Code, § 653 · Chapter 2. Of Other and Miscellaneous Offenses
Pen. Code, § 653
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Every person who tattoos or offers to tattoo a person under the age of 18 years is guilty of a misdemeanor.
As used in this section, to “tattoo” means to insert pigment under the surface of the skin of a human being, by pricking with a needle or otherwise, so as to produce an indelible mark or figure visible through the skin.
This section is not intended to apply to any act of a licensed practitioner of the healing arts performed in the course of his practice.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Stats. 1955, Ch. 1422.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=653.
- Text hash
- sha256 7999bc1f7dd97dcfc1a529fd09ba26aebc46042bce0ac9a7f14265b98b78a67b
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
Cited by 2 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 653. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Business and Professions Code
Health and Safety Code
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.