The owner of an Ada Tattoo Parlor is fighting a law requiring all Oklahoma Tattoo Shops to obtain a 100-thousand dollar surety bond.     

According to officials from the State Department of Health, the surety bond was originally intended as a type of medical liability, in case a customer suffered medical problems as a result of a tattoo.

KTEN's Andrea Kurys spoke with the shop's owner.      I

t turns out, shop owners are having a hard time posting the surety bond. As of this week, health officials say only 28 tattoo studios in the state are officially licensed.     

Jessica Harrell opened her shop last year and says when she applied for the bond.  She was denied. Now the Health Department is threatening to shut down her parlor.  So Harrell created the Association of Body Art.  14 members strong so far, with shop owners from across the state. The Association has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health, claiming the bond is unreasonable and unconstitutional. Harrell says no other states that she knows of require the 100 thousand dollar bond, and shop owners would not be opposed to just paying for liability insurance.

Jessica Harrell told KTEN, "Essentially the surety bond has nothing to do with the health of our clients or any of that, it's just for the Health Department. So yeah, we'd much rather they required insurance, I mean that's what we expected to happen."     

The Association hopes the lawsuit will buy some more time for shop owners until a ruling comes back. A spokesperson for the State Department of Health says the bond is currently being discussed in the State Senate. Depending on what happens in session, the bond could possibly be reduced to a lower amount, be switched out for liability insurance or gotten rid of altogether.

Andrea Kurys, KTEN News