Can You Get in Trouble for Getting a Tattoo in Jail?

If you are someone who is into tattoos, you may wonder about a lot of things related to tattoos. One of the things that you may want to know is whether or not getting a tattoo in jail is allowed. So, can getting a tattoo in jail get someone in trouble?

Will Getting a Tattoo in Jail Cause You a Trouble?

For anyone who is wondering whether or not getting a tattoo in jail gets you in trouble, the answer to the question may vary, depending on a few aspects such as the correctional facility, correctional officer, county, and state. Every jail, every county, and every state has its own rules and regulations regarding inmates getting tattoos in jail. That’s why the answer may vary.

In most jails, getting a tattoo will get the individual in trouble because tattoos are considered contraband. Apart from that, getting a tattoo while in a correctional facility is also counted as an act of breaking prison rules in a lot of jails. In addition, it is not allowed to have equipment to make tattoos such as ink, needles, and so on.

If an incarcerated individual is caught for getting a tattoo in prison or caught for having tattoo-making equipment, they can be punished. If you are curious about the types of punishment, they can include:

    • Being thrown in to the solitary confinement or disciplinary segregation or the hole for a period of time
    • Their privileges such as phone calls, visitation, and commissary access can be taken away from them
    • Required to pay monetary fines or restitution fees
    • Their sentences are extended
    • Getting transferred to a higher security facility

There is a thread on a popular forum called Quora regarding the possibility of getting punished for getting a tattoo in jail. Here are some answers that can be found:

    • “In California I was getting tattooed when the tier cop told us on his walk thru that his shift was about over so wrap it up cause the next guy coming on would write us up. In Colorado anytime you got a write up for anything they’d check to see if you had fresh ink. In either state the tattoo was a write up and the gun would get taken and you might go to the hole for a minute. It’s worth it. Why else do you go to prison if not to get tattoos and work out?” Something I seen in the county jail in Colorado I never saw in California is people sharpening paperclips and using pen ink to tattoo. That shit was like a 1/16 of an inch thick! It did not make for good tattoos. If you’re in the county you should wait till you get to prison or you get out to get tattooed. – JEFFTOWN
    • “I’ve been caught with fresh ink in prison a few times, I’ve also been cause with a tattoo gun. Each time I got caught I got time in adseg and lost good time, and had to pay a fine for the test they had to do to make sure I didn’t get a disease. It was worth it honestly I thought the tattoo was cool. I got reclassified for the tattoo gun mostly because it resulted in numerous right ups, and I already was in a lot of trouble. In total I got like 20 prison tattoos, I was only caught 4 times plus the gun itself. So i was pretty lucky I guess.”  – Morgan O’hare
    • “If they get caught u can (I’ve been that inmate) and since I didn’t want to snitch who tatted me up (I swore up and down i had it already!) I got lucky actually cuz I only had my visits taken from me for like 2 months and my commissary (that part sucked cuz I was going through some hard core coffee withdrawals or should I say dirty sock water) but I could care less for the visits since nobody was visiting me anyway! And I wasn’t even the one that got caught some other loud ass girl attracting attention to herself got seen by the CO and then they took her out of the pod a few minutes later and bam they swarmed in on us and raided our shit (they didn’t even make that big of a deal when they had Heroine!) but they checked every single one of us practically stripped us all and the ones with fresh tattoos would get locked up in separate rooms until we had the CO come and write us up and after sitting there for hours trying to give up the girl who had done it and blah blah blah that blank girl had already confirmed who it had been that they just wanted more ppl to incriminate them and some of u know how lame they sound when they try to get us to give them information anyhow but yeah if u get caught u will get in trouble in most cases maybe other jails/prisons r more lenient?”  – MsContingency
    • “In maximum security in California they don’t give a fuck. Some C/O’s will write you up for the tattoo gun but that’s like a 90-day “contraband” write up. Same as for a cell phone. Everyone around me had fresh tattoos and the cops didn’t care. Unless you went out of your way to fuck with one of them they wouldn’t mess with you for something so trivial. There were stabbings, fights, murders, and C/O assaults on the DAILY, so they had bigger fish to fry. Having said that, I also know that in lower level prisons they can be a little chickenshit because guys in those places are being paroled and I think the C/O’s are a little more strict for that reason.”  – Mac Tatum
    • “In my own experience it’s different from facility to facility. I went to the state prison and they tend to rat on each other so people got caught all the time and were usually given like 3 days in the SHU. In federal prison the girls stuck together more and they had hiding spots for all their equipment. I met some of the best tattoo artists in Federal Prison. The basest tattoo I have I got in the federal pen for 15 bucks in canteen. It looks better than the ones I got in a shop.”  – Prison Confessions

Risks of Getting Tattoos in Jail

While it is possible for you to not get in trouble for getting a tattoo in prison, it is still not recommended to get one in such a place because it is risky. It is actually one of the reasons why most jails prohibited inmates from getting a tattoo while at a correctional facility. They are aware about the potential risks of unsanitary tattooing. Due to a limited access to the outside world, tattoo artists who tattoo inmates use only available materials which can be far from proper sterilization and hygiene standards. Because of this, those who get tattoos in jail can get severe infections, allergic reactions, and in worst cases can get infected by deadly diseases such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS viruses. Not only from the shared needles, these risks may come from the makeshift ink that is known to contain harmful chemicals. If the artist uses makeshift ink, the one who gets the tattoo can have their skin damaged and can get permanent scarring.

Motifs of Tattoos in Jail

Talking about getting a tattoo in jail, it is not completed without talking about the motifs. Just like people in the outside world, inmates usually request to get a tattoo that describes their personalities, their interests, or a thing that represents them. Many of them want to have a tattoo of a symbol or a number that represents multiple gangs or groups. According to Correction1, the most popular tattoo motifs in jail include:

1. 1488

1488 Tattoo

2. The Cobweb

The Cobweb Tattoo

3. Teardrop

Teardrop Tattoo

4. Five-Point Crown

Five-Point Crown Tattoo

5. Three Dots

Three Dots Tattoo

6. Five Dots

Five Dots Tattoo

7. The Clock Without Hands

The Clock Without Hands Tattoo

8. AB or Aryan Brotherhood

AB or Aryan Brotherhood Tattoo

9. Norteno

Norteno Tattoo

10. La Eme

LA EME Tattoo

Bottom Line

In conclusion, the answer to the question whether or not you can get in trouble for getting a tattoo in jail may vary, depending on a few aspects, including the correctional facility, correctional officer, county, and state. In many correctional facilities, getting a tattoo in jail is not allowed because it violates the rules and has health risks. If an incarcerated individual gets caught getting a tattoo in a correctional facility that prohibits such a thing, they can get punished.

Related Posts