Alabama tanning laws for salon owners

What Alabama requires at the front desk

Alabama's statewide tanning law is chapter 22-17B of the Code, three sections enacted by Act 2014-90 (House Bill 254). It covers who may tan and eyewear, and nothing else: no license, no inspector, no records. It names no agency to enforce it and sets no penalty of its own. Jefferson County has had its own, fuller tanning act since 1994.

1. Check the age of every UV client before the first session.
2. Turn away anyone 14 or under unless they have a physician's prescription. A spray tan is allowed at any age.
3. For a 16- or 17-year-old, have a parent or legal guardian sign written consent at your facility, not at home.
4. For a 15-year-old, have the parent or guardian sign at the facility and stay in the building for the whole session. The parent who signed is the one who must be there.
5. Use a consent form that carries the full warning in 22-17B-3.
6. Do not let anyone tan without protective eyewear.

Minors: the age bands

The law does not say how long a consent lasts or whether it must be renewed, and it does not require you to keep it. Keeping the signed form on file is still the only way to show later that you had it.

Jefferson County has its own tanning act

Sections 45-37-41 to 45-37-41.09 of the Code (Act 94-619) apply only in Jefferson County, and there the county Board of Health regulates tanning facilities. A salon in Jefferson County must:

• Hold a Board of Health permit, renewed yearly, and display it in a public area.
• Have a knowledgeable operator present during operating hours.
• Post the warning sign worded in 45-37-41.05(2) wherever a device is used.
• Sanitize handrails, headrests and bed surfaces, and hand out sanitized eyewear, before each use.
• Use timers accurate to within 10 percent, keep each session within the manufacturer's maximum time, and keep the facility below 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Report any injury or complaint of injury to the Board of Health and give the customer a copy.
• Never claim a tanning device is safe or free from risk.

The county act's minors rule is older and looser: a signed parent statement for ages 14 to 17, and a parent at the first visit under 14 (45-37-41.06). The 2014 state law applies in Jefferson County too and is stricter for every minor: a prescription at 14 and under, a parent in the building at 15, and consent signed at the salon from 15 to 17. The Board of Health may fine up to $100 a day, capped at $1,500 (45-37-41.08), and its fees under the act may not exceed $50 a year (45-37-41.09). The act also lets the Board of Health adopt its own regulations (45-37-41.07(b)), so ask the Jefferson County Department of Health what its permit currently requires.

What we checked, and what we could not

On September 29, 2026 we searched the full text of the Code of Alabama for "tanning". It returned chapter 22-17B, the Jefferson County act and a few tax and business-license sections that only mention the word. The Legislature's bill search lists three tanning bills: Act 2014-90 (HB 254), which became law, and 2013 HB 179 and 2014 SB 233, both indefinitely postponed. None appears in the 2024, 2025 or 2026 sessions.

We also searched the Alabama Administrative Code for "tanning". Its eight results are about leather, hides, wildlife, a tourism tax rebate, radiation and dairy equipment; none regulates tanning facilities. Chapter 22-17B gives no agency power to write tanning rules, and the Board of Cosmetology and Barbering's current rules do not mention tanning. Other cities and counties can still set their own conditions, so check locally.

How TanVision helps with Alabama's rules

TanVision's consent forms keep each signed record with the exact wording agreed to, and for a client under your minimum age, a parent or guardian's name and signature. Put the 22-17B-3 warning in your wording. Because Alabama wants the parent to sign at the facility, have them sign on a tablet at the counter rather than sending the link home.

At check-in a session cannot start without a signed statement and a date of birth on file, and a client under your minimum age cannot start without guardian consent on file. With Minors and UV rooms at Yes, the default at Settings > Tanning rules, guardian consent on file lets a client under your minimum age start any room, UV included, with only a warning. So refusing a UV session to a 14-year-old without a prescription, and seeing that a 15-year-old's parent is in the building, stay your desk's job. At No, check-in refuses UV rooms to every client under your minimum age, including the 15- to 17-year-olds Alabama allows. With a USB 2D barcode scanner, Scan ID reads the date of birth from the barcode on the back of a US or Canadian driver's license or ID card and records the day the ID was checked; staff still compare the photo with the person.

Exposure safety refuses a typed time above the maximum you set for each room, so setting that maximum to the manufacturer's recommended time helps with Jefferson County's rule. For other states, see tanning laws by state.