Senate Bill 2162

AN ACT RELATING TO THE PRACTICING OF BARBERING IN MISSISSIPPI; TO AMEND SECTION 73-5-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROHIBIT AN ESTABLISHMENT FROM ADVERTISING BARBERING SERVICES WITHOUT A LICENSE; TO AMEND SECTION 73-5-11, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE APPLICANTS FOR BARBER SCHOOL TO COMPLETE A CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK, TO PROHIBIT ENROLLMENT FOR APPLICANTS WITH FELONY CONVICTIONS AND TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD OF BARBER EXAMINERS TO ISSUE TEMPORARY PERMITS TO PRACTICE BARBERING; TO AMEND SECTION 73-5-29, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PRESCRIBE A FEE FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A TEMPORARY PERMIT TO PRACTICE BARBERING; TO AMEND SECTION 73-5-33, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCREASE THE ADMINISTRATIVE FINE FOR UNLICENSED PRACTICE OF BARBERING; TO AMEND SECTION 73-5-43, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCREASE THE FINE FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE CRIMINAL STATUTE AGAINST THE UNLICENSED PRACTICE OF BARBERING; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 73-5-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

73-5-9. No person shall practice or attempt to practice barbering in the State of Mississippi without a certificate of registration as a registered barber issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

No person shall be a barber instructor in the State of Mississippi without a certificate of registration as a barber instructor issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

No establishment shall display a barber pole, barber sign or advertise barbering services unless it is licensed by the State Board of Barber Examiners.

SECTION 2. Section 73-5-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

73-5-11. (1) To be eligible for enrollment at a barbering school approved by the Board of Barber Examiners, a person shall have a high school education or its equivalent, and/or shall have satisfactorily passed the ability-to-benefit examinations approved by the U.S. Department of Education. In addition, each applicant for enrollment must provide a criminal background check performed within thirty (30) days prior to application for enrollment. Applicants with felony convictions shall not be allowed to enroll until such time as they have appeared before the Board of Barber Examiners and have received the board's approval for enrollment.

(2) Any person is qualified to receive a certificate of registration to practice barbering:

(a) Who is qualified under the provisions of this chapter;

(b) Who is of good moral character and temperate habits;

(c) Who has completed not less than fifteen hundred (1,500) hours at a barbering school approved by the State Board of Barber Examiners; and

(d) Who has passed a satisfactory examination conducted by the board of examiners to determine his fitness to practice barbering.

(3) A temporary permit to practice barbering until the next examination is given may be issued to a student who has completed not less than fifteen hundred (1,500) hours at a barbering school approved by the Board of Barber Examiners. In no event shall a person be allowed to practice barbering on a temporary permit beyond the date the next examination is given, except because of personal illness.

(4) A temporary permit to practice barbering one (1) day per week may be issued to a student that has completed not less than one thousand (1,000) hours at a barbering school approved by the Board of Barber Examiners, who has at least a B average in practical and academic coursework and who has been recommended by the barbering school for such permit.

SECTION 3. Section 73-5-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

73-5-29. The fee for taking an examination as a registered barber shall be in the sum of not more than Fifty-five Dollars ($55.00), and the further sum of not more than Thirty-five Dollars ($35.00) shall be required for the issuance of a certificate for the registered barber. The fee for taking an examination as a registered barber instructor shall be in the sum of not more than Fifty-five Dollars ($55.00), and the further sum of not more than Forty Dollars ($40.00) shall be required for the issuance of a certificate of registration for the registered barber instructor. A fee of not more than One Hundred Fifty Dollars ($150.00) shall be required for the issuance of a certificate of registration to a practicing barber of another state as authorized by Section 73-5-21. Likewise, an annual renewal fee payable on the anniversary date of the issuance of each certificate of registration as a registered barber of not more than Thirty-five Dollars ($35.00) shall be charged for the issuance of the renewal of the certificate; an annual renewal fee payable on the anniversary date of the issuance of each certificate of registration as a registered barber instructor of not more than Forty Dollars ($40.00) shall be charged for the issuance of the renewal of the certificate; however, the renewal fee for a registered barber who is sixty-five (65) years of age or older shall be not more than Thirty Dollars ($30.00); no renewal fee shall be charged to register barbers at least eighty (80) years of age. A fee of Ten Dollars ($10.00) for each year or any portion thereof in addition to payment of all unpaid renewal fees in arrears and the regular renewal fee shall be required for the restoration of expired certificates of registration issued pursuant to this chapter. Additionally, in order to restore any certificate of registration issued under this chapter that has been expired for a period of five (5) years or longer, the holder thereof must retake and pass the appropriate examination. A penalty of Ten Dollars ($10.00) in addition to payment of all unpaid renewal fees in arrears and the regular renewal fee shall be required for the restoration of certificates that have expired for a period of thirty (30) to sixty (60) days. A penalty of Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) in addition to payment of all unpaid renewal fees in arrears and the regular renewal fee shall be required for the restoration of certificates that have been expired for a period greater than sixty (60) days.

The board may adopt and spread upon its minutes the rules and regulations for the issuance of a duplicate certificate for which a fee of not more than Ten Dollars ($10.00) may be charged. However, each duplicate certificate issued shall have stamped across its face the word "duplicate" and shall bear the number of the original certificate in lieu of which it is issued.

A fee of Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) shall be required for the issuance of a temporary permit to practice barbering one (1) day a week as authorized in Section 73-5-11(4).

SECTION 4. Section 73-5-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

73-5-33. (1) The board shall issue a license for each barbershop in operation in the State of Mississippi, and the board shall prescribe the rules and regulations and circulate the information necessary to obtain a license for the barbershop. A fee of not more than Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) for each chair manned by a registered barber located in the shop shall be required for the issuance of the license, and the same fee shall be required for a renewal of the license to the shop, the renewal due on the anniversary date of each year. A fee of not more than Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) in addition to the regular renewal fee shall be required for restoration of any license that has expired for more than thirty (30) days. Any barbershop license having passed the second year anniversary date, in delinquency, shall be required to have a new shop inspection and shall hereafter pay an initial fee of not more than Forty-five Dollars ($45.00) in addition to all other fees required for restoration.

(2) All barbershop owners shall be responsible for employing only licensed barbers in the shop. Any barbershop owner found by the Board of Barber Examiners to employ an unlicensed barber or barbers shall be fined Four Hundred Fifty Dollars ($450.00) payable into the State General Fund, and shall be subject to closure until those violations are corrected. Any barbershop operating within the State of Mississippi without a license after July 1, 1968, shall be subjected to closing by a proper order of a court of competent jurisdiction upon a proper showing that it has failed to comply with the terms of this chapter.

(3) The board may assess against any barbershop owner found to employ an unlicensed barber or barbers any of the following costs that are expended by the board in the conduct of a proceeding for violation of subsection (2): court filing fees, court costs and the cost of serving process. Any monies collected by the board under this subsection (3) shall be deposited into the special fund operating account of the board.

(4) All new barbershops or change of ownership or location of barbershops shall hereafter pay an initial fee of not more than Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) in addition to all other fees required before beginning business. The fee shall not be transferable upon change of ownership or location.

(5) All licensees shall notify the State Board of Barber Examiners of the location of the barbershop at which they are employed.

SECTION 5. Section 73-5-43, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

73-5-43. Each of the following constitutes a misdemeanor, punishable in any court of competent jurisdiction, upon conviction thereof, by a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than Nine Hundred Fifty Dollars ($950.00), to-wit:

The violation of any of the provisions of Section 73-5-9; or

Obtaining or attempting to obtain a certificate of registration for money other than the required fee, or any other thing of value, or by fraudulent misrepresentation; or

Practicing or attempting to practice by fraudulent misrepresentations; or

The willful failure to display a certificate of registration * * *; or

The use of any room or place for barbering which is also used for residential or business purpose (except for the sale of hair tonics, lotions, creams, cutlery, toilet articles, cigars, tobacco and such commodities as are used or sold in a barbershop) unless a substantial partition of ceiling height separates the portion used for the residence or business purpose from that in which such practice of barbering is carried on.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2007.