Chapter 038
2017 -- S 0020
Enacted 06/22/2017

A N   A C T
RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- BARBERS, HAIRDRESSERS, COSMETICIANS, MANICURISTS AND ESTHETICIANS

Introduced By: Senator Marc A. Cote
Date Introduced: January 18, 2017

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
     SECTION 1. Section 5-10-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 5-10 entitled "Barbers,
Hairdressers, Cosmeticians, Manicurists and Estheticians" is hereby amended to read as follows:
     5-10-8. Issuance of licenses -- Qualifications of applicants.
     (a) The division shall issue 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
manicuring or esthetics; provided, that no license shall be 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 or has twenty-five (25) or more years
of prior experience in the practice for which the license is sought;
     (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 approved by the
division to determine the fitness of the applicant to receive a license; and
     (7) Has complied with ยง 5-10-10 and any other qualifications that the division prescribes
by regulation.
     (b) Notwithstanding the provision of subdivision (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
combination of education and experience.
     (c) The division may license, on a case-by-case basis, with or without examination, any
individual who has been licensed as an esthetician, barber, cosmetologist, electrologist or
manicurist under the laws of another state, which, in the opinion of the division, maintains a
standard substantially equivalent to that of the state of Rhode Island.
     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC000370
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