It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Sections 5-10-2, 5-10-6, 5-10-8 and 5-10-9 of the General Laws in Chapter 5-10 entitled "Barbers, Hairdressers, Cosmeticians, Manicurists and Estheticians" are hereby amended to read as follows:

5-10-2. Creation of division of professional regulation and board of barbering and hairdressing -- Powers and duties -- (a) Within the department of health there is a division of professional regulation and a board of barbering and hairdressing. The division:

(1) Conducts Approves all written and practical examinations;

(2) Issues all licenses and permits subsequently provided for;

(3) Serves as the sole inspector of sanitation of all establishments licensed under this chapter;

(4) Makes any rules and regulations that the division deems necessary or expedient, in conformity with the provisions of this chapter and not contrary to law, for the conduct of the business of barbering and hairdressing and cosmetic therapy or esthetics and manicuring, for the use of appliances, apparatus, and electrical equipment and machines and the establishment of sanitary requirements in all establishments and of all persons licensed under the provisions of this chapter;

(5) Keeps a register of all persons and places of business licensed under this chapter;

(6) Keeps complete records of all persons and establishments licensed under this chapter;

(7) Summons witnesses and administers oaths; and

(8) Does all things and performs all acts necessary to enforce the provisions of this chapter.

(b) The board of barbering and hairdressing has a policy-making role in the preparation and composition selection of the examinations, written and practical, to be administered by the division. Subsequent to the administration of the examination, the board of examiners reviews the examinations to evaluate their effectiveness. The board supervises the operations of the division of professional regulation in an advisory capacity in promulgating any policy that is necessary to improve the operations of the division in their areas of expertise. The promulgation of that policy is subject to the approval of the director of the department. Members of the board are subject to the provisions of chapter 14 of title 36.

5-10-6. Meetings of board -- Time and notice of examinations -- The board meets as often as necessary for the transaction of any business that regularly comes before it. The board shall hold each year, at any times and places, within the state, that it designates, at least two (2) public examinations for the various classes of licenses, which it is empowered to issue. Practical examinations are held for those licenses.

5-10-8. Issuance of licenses -- Qualifications of applicants -- (a) The division issues licenses to persons engaged in or desiring to engage in the practice of barbering, hairdressing, and cosmetic therapy and/or manicuring, or esthetics and for instructing in any approved school of barbering or hairdressing and cosmetic therapy, and/or manicuring, or esthetics provided that no license is issued to any person under this chapter unless the applicant for the license:

(1) Is at least eighteen (18) years of age;

(2) Is a citizen of the United States of America or has legal entry into the country;

(3) Is of good moral character;

(4) Is a high school graduate or holds the equivalent;

(5) Has satisfactorily completed the course of instruction in an approved school of barbering, hairdressing and cosmetic therapy, and/or manicuring or esthetics;

(6) Has satisfactorily passed a written and a practical examination conducted approved by the division to determine the fitness of the applicant to receive a license; and

(7) Has complied with section 5-10-10 and any other qualifications that the division prescribes by regulation.

(b) Notwithstanding the provision of subsection (a)(4), on and after July 1, 1997, an applicant seeking licensure as a barber must be a high school graduate or hold the equivalent.

5-10-9. Classes of licenses -- Licenses are divided into the following classes and are issued by the division to applicants for the licenses who have qualified for each class of license:

(1) A "hairdresser's and cosmetician's license" is issued by the division to every applicant for the license who meets the requirements of section 5-10-8 and has completed a course of instruction in hairdressing and cosmetology consisting of not less than fifteen hundred (1,500) hours of continuous study and practice.

(2) An "instructor's license" is granted by the division to any applicant for the license who has held a licensed hairdresser's and cosmetician's license, a barber's license, a manicurist's license, or an esthetician's license issued under the laws of this state or another state, for at least the five (5) three (3) years preceding the date of application for an instructor's license and:

(i) Meets the requirements of section 5-10-8;

(ii) Has satisfactorily completed three hundred (300) hours of instruction in hairdressing and cosmetology, barber, manicurist, or esthetician teacher training approved by the division as prescribed by regulation;

(iii) Has satisfactorily passed a written and a practical examination conducted approved by the division to determine the fitness of the applicant to receive an instructor's license;

(iv) Has complied with section 5-10-10; and

(v) Has complied with any other qualifications that the division prescribes by regulation.

(3) A "manicurist license" is granted to any applicant for the license who meets the following qualifications:

(i) Meets the requirements of section 5-10-8; and

(ii) Has completed a course of instruction consisting of not less than three hundred (300) hours of professional training in manicuring, in an approved school.

(4) An "esthetician license" is granted to any applicant for the license who meets the following qualifications:

(i) Meets the requirements of section 5-10-8;

(ii) Has completed a course of instruction in esthetics consisting of not less than six hundred (600) hours of continuous study and practice over a period of not less than four (4) months in an approved school of hairdressing and cosmetology; and

(iii) Any applicant who holds a diploma or certificate from a skin care school that is recognized as a skin care school by the state or nation in which it is located, and meets the requirements of paragraph (i) of this subdivision, is granted a license to practice esthetics provided that the skin care school has a requirement that in order to graduate from the school a student must have completed a number of hours of instruction in the practice of skin care which number is at least equal to the number of hours of instruction required by the division.

(5) A "barber" license is issued by the division to every applicant for the license who meets the requirements of section 5-10-8 and:

(i) Has completed a course of instruction in barbering consisting of not less than one thousand five hundred (1,500) hours of continuous study and practice in an approved school;

(ii) Has possessed for at least two (2) years prior to the filing of the application a certificate of registration in full force and effect from the department of health of the state specifying that person as a registered apprentice barber and the application of that applicant is accompanied by an affidavit or affidavits of his or her employer or former employers or other reasonably satisfactory evidence showing that the applicant has been actually engaged in barbering as an apprentice barber in the state during those two (2) years; or

(iii) A combination of barber school training and apprenticeship training as determined by the rules and regulations.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.