Delaware General Assembly


CHAPTER 122 - BOARD OF EXAMINERS OF BEAUTICIANS

AN ACT TO PROMOTE THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY BY PROVIDING FOR EXAMINATION AND REGISTRATION OF THOSE WHO DESIRE TO ENGAGE IN THE OCCUPATION OF BEAUTY CULTURE; DEFINING BEAUTY CULTURE, AND REGULATING BEAUTY CULTURE SHOPS, SCHOOLS, STUDENTS, APPRENTICES, TEACHERS, MANAGERS AND OPERATORS; PROVIDING FOR APPEALS TO CERTAIN COURTS BY APPLICANTS AND LICENSEES; AND PROVIDING PENALTIES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:

Section 1. On or before July 1, 1935, the Governor of the State of Delaware is hereby directed to appoint four reputable practicing beauticians, one of whom shall be resident in the City of Wilmington, one of whom shall be a resident of New Castle County outside the City of Wilmington, one of whom shall be resident in Kent County, and one of whom shall be resident in Sussex County, and which persons so appointed, shall be and constitute the "Board of Examiners of Beauticians", and hereafter designated as the Board. It shall be the duty of the Board to carry out the purposes and enforce the provisions of this Act.

The full term of the members of the Board shall be three years; provided, however, that of the original appointments made on or before July 1, 1935, two shall be for a term of two years and three shall be for the full term of three years, and upon the expiration of the term for which the members were appointed respectively, their successors shall be appointed for a full term of three years. In case of a vacancy the Governor shall appoint a person to fill such vacancy for the unexpired term only.

Before entering upon their duties each member shall be duly sworn or affirmed to faithfully and impartially perform the duties of his office. Any member may be removed by the Governor for cause.

The Board shall meet as soon as may be conveniently done after the appointment of the respective members and shall organize by the selection of a President and a Secretary. The Board shall have the right to appoint one or more inspectors for such term or terms as the Board may designate, provided that no inspector shall be appointed for a longer period than one year; and provided further that not more than one inspector shall be appointed from either of the Counties of this State. It shall be the duty of the Inspectors to make investigations and make reports to the Board and do such other act or acts as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this Act.

Section 2. Each member of said Board shall receive a compensation of ten dollars per day for actual services rendered not in excess of twenty days per annum.

Section 3. All moneys received from any source under the provisions of this Act shall be paid to the State Treasurer who shall keep said funds in a separate account, and shall pay all wages or compensation and all expenses from the funds paid into said account and from no other source. Before any moneys shall be paid the Secretary of the Board shall first approve the account upon which the claim or charge is based.

Section 4. Practice of Beauty Culture Without Registration Prohibited:--It shall be unlawful for any person to practice or teach beauty culture, or manage a beauty shop, or to use or maintain any place for the practice or teaching of beauty culture, for compensation, unless he or she shall have first obtained from the Board a certificate of registration as provided in this Act. Nothing contained in this Act, however, shall apply to or effect any person who is now actually engaged in any such occupation, except as hereinafter provided.

Section 5. Requirements to Practice:--Before any person may practice or teach beauty culture or manage a beauty shop, such person shall file with the Board a written application for registration, on a form which shall be prescribed and supplied by such Board, and shall deposit with the Board the registration fee, and pass an examination as to fitness to practice or teach beauty culture or manage a beauty shop, as hereinafter provided in this Act.

"Beauty Culture" includes any or all work done for compensation by any person, which work is generally and usually performed by so-called hairdressers, cosmetologists, cosmeticians, beauticians or beauty culturists, and however denominated in so-called hairdressing and beauty shops ordinarily patronized by women, which work is for the embellishment, cleanliness and beautification of women.

Section 6. Eligibility Requirements for Examination:--No person shall be permitted by the Board to take an examination to receive a certificate as an operator unless such person shall be at least sixteen years of age and has been registered as a student and has had training, as hereinafter provided in this Ad, in a beauty school duly registered by the Board, or unless such person shall have been registered and served as an apprentice at least two years as hereinafter provided in this Act: Provided, however, that the Board may permit a person to take an examination without the prior studentship or apprenticeship herein required if such person shall establish, to the satisfaction of the Board, that he or she has been an operator in the active practice of beauty culture for at least twenty-four months within the five years next preceding the effective date of this Act. No person shall be permitted to take an examination for a certificate to teach beauty culture or act as manager of a beauty shop unless such person shall be at least eighteen years of age, and has had at least eighteen months' experience as an operator in a beauty shop or has had training in a duly registered school of beauty culture of fifteen hundred hours inclusive of the studies necessary to become an operator.

Section 7. Practice in Beauty Shops Only:--It shall be unlawful for any person to practice beauty culture for pay in any place other than a registered beauty shop: Provided, that a registered operator may furnish beauty culture treatments to persons in residences of such persons by appointment.

Section 8. Exceptions to Examination Requirements; Present Students and Apprentices:--Any person who has practiced or taught beauty culture or acted as manager of a beauty shop or school of beauty culture, under a certificate, license or permit for not less than two years in another state, territory, or District of Columbia, or any person who has done so in this State for at least six months next preceding the effective date of this Act and is thus engaged in this State at the time this Act goes into effect, may secure the certificate of registration required by this Act without an examination or compliance with other requirements as to age and education, provided such person shall make application to the Board for registration within ninety days after the effective date of this Act.

Section 9. Any person studying beauty culture in a school of beauty culture or as an apprentice in a beauty shop in this State at the time this Act goes into effect shall receive credit for such time and studies without complying with the requirements of this Act as to age and preliminary education, provided such person shall make application to the board for registration as a student or apprentice within three months after this Act goes into effect. Students, upon graduating from registered schools of beauty culture, may apply for, and receive from the Board, a temporary permit to practice as an operator until the next regular examination held by the Board under the provisions of this Act.

Section 10. Apprentices in Beauty Shops:--Any cosmetologist, hairdresser, or cosmetician, who is a beauty shop owner, and who is a holder of a teacher's certificate, may instruct apprentices, provided that there shall be no more than one apprentice in any shop unless such shop shall employ at least two or more operators and if there be two or more operators then such shop may have one apprentice for each two operators; and provided such shop is not held out as a school of beauty culture. Such apprentices may apply for examination at the end of their apprenticeship at the next regular examination held by the Board, and, if successful therein, shall be registered as operators. Registered apprentices, upon completion of their required term of apprenticeship, may apply for, and receive from the Board, a temporary permit to practice as an operator until the next regular examination.

Section 11. Rules by Board:--The Board shall prescribe reasonable rules for its conduct, and for the qualifications, registration and examination of applicants to practice or teach beauty culture, and for the registration of apprentices, teachers, students, and managers of beauty shops or schools of beauty culture, and for temporary licenses to be issued at the discretion of the Board, and generally for the conduct of persons, copartnerships, associations or corporations affected by this Act, provided that the said Board shall not undertake, by any rule or regulation to fix the hours during which any shop or shops shall remain open for business. Rules established by the Board shall be printed and supplied to applicants and license holders.

Section 12. Examinations:--If the Board finds that the applicant has submitted the credentials required by this Act for admission to examination, and has paid the registration fee required by this Act, the Board shall admit such applicant tci examination, and shall issue a certificate of registration to practice as operator, manager, or teacher, as the case may be, to those successfully passing the required examinations. The Board shall hold public examinations on the first Tuesday of January, April, August and November of each year and at such other times as the Board may deem necessary, after and when such necessity shall arise and shall hold such other examinations at such place or places within the State of Delaware and at such hours as the Board shall prescribe. The examination for teachers' and managers' licenses shall differ from the examination for operators' licenses in that it shall be of a more exacting nature and require higher standards of knowledge of the practice and theories of beauty culture, including ability to teach properly the various practices and theories of beauty culture.

Section 13. Powers and Duties of the Board:--The Board shall have the power to refuse, revoke or suspend licenses or certificates, upon due hearing, on proof of violation of any provisions of this act or the rules and regulations established by the Board under this Act, or for gross incompetency or dishonest or unethical practices, and shall have the power to require the attendance of witnesses and the production of such books, records and papers as it may desire. Before any certificate shall be suspended or revoked for any of the reasons contained in this section, the holder thereof shall have notice, in writing, of the charge or charges against him or her, and shall, at a day specified in said notice, which shall be at least five days after the service thereof, be given a public hearing, before a duly authorized representative of the Board, with a full opportunity to produce testimony in his or her behalf and to confront the witnesses against him or her. Any person whose certificate of registration has been so suspended or revoked may, after the expiration of ninety days, on application to the Board, have the same reissued to him or her upon satisfactory proof that the disqualification has ceased. Before the Board may institute any of the above proceedings, it shall send a notice in writing to the certificate holder of any alleged violation of this Act or rules thereunder, together with a notice that if the violation is not abated within fifteen days the proceedings above outlined will be initiated.

Section 14. Sanitary Rules:--The Board shall prescribe such sanitary rules as it may deem necessary, with particular reference to the precautions necessary to be employed to prevent the creating and spreading of infectious and contagious diseases; and it shall be unlawful for the owner or manager of any beauty shop or school of beauty culture to permit any person to sleep in or use for residential purposes any room used wholly or in part as a beauty shop or school of beauty culture.

Section 15. Appeal From Actions of the Board:--An appeal may be taken from any actions of the Board to the Superior Court.

Section 16. Fees:--The registration fee for the issuance of a license, with or without examination, shall be as follows: Ten Dollars ($10.00) for beauty shop owners, managers, and teachers; Five Dollars ($5.00) for operators; Two Dollars ($2.00) for students or apprentices; and Fifty Dollars ($50.00) for schools of beauty culture. Annual renewal fees shall be Ten Dollars ($10.00) for shop owners and managers and school instructors; Five Dollars ($5.00) for operators; and Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) for schools of beauty culture. The above fees for registration, examination, and certificate shall be paid in advance to the Board.

Section 17. To Whom Provisions in This Act Shall Not Apply:--Nothing in this Act shall prohibit service in case of emergency or domestic administration without compensation, nor service by persons authorized under the laws of this State to practice medicine, surgery, dentistry, chiropody, osteopathy, or chiropractice, nor services by barbers lawfully engaged in the performance of the usual and ordinary duties of their vocation.

Section 18. Display of Certificates:--Every holder of a certificate granted by the said Board, as provided in this Act, shall display it in a conspicuous place in his or her principal office, place of business, or employment.

Section 19. Duration and Renewal of Certificates of Registration:--All certificates of registration issued under the provisions hereof shall expire on the first day of June next succeeding the issuance thereof, and it shall be the duty of the person holding a certificate of registration to have the same renewed on or before the first day of June next succeeding the date of issuance of the certificate then in effect.

Section 20. Penalties:--Any person convicted of violating any of the provisions of this Act or who shall practice or teach beauty culture, or act in any capacity wherein registration is required, without complying with the provisions of this Act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof before any Justice of the Peace, or by the Municipal Court of the City of Wilmington, shall pay a fine not exceeding Fifty Dollars ($50.00) and upon failure to pay the fines imposed shall be imprisoned for a term not exceeding twenty (20) days.

Section 21. Effective Date:--This Act shall become effective on the first day of July, A. D. 1935.

Section 22. This Act shall be known as the "Delaware State Beauticians Act."

Approved May 1, 1935.