Minnesota’s jail system is establishing a tattoo program within the hopes of giving inmates new expertise and curbing the unfold of bloodborne illness from unlawful physique artwork.

The state Corrections Division is trying to find an skilled tattoo artist to supervise the institution of a number of tattoo studios in Minnesota’s prisons. Prisoners are identified to create their very own tattoo gear utilizing supplies together with small electrical motors and ballpoint pens. With out correct sterilization, the instruments can result in the transmission of illnesses reminiscent of hepatitis C and HIV, as tattooers could use contaminated needles on a number of individuals.

Officers hope to make tattooing safer by putting it in a managed setting.

Corrections Division spokesman Nick Kimball stated hepatitis therapies can value anyplace between $20,000 to $75,000, and the state jail system treats 80 to 100 inmates for the illness annually. As of January 2022, there have been 7,511 individuals incarcerated in Minnesota prisons and previous estimates positioned the variety of contaminated inmates at anyplace from 1,200 to three,500.

“By lowering the potential for transmission of bloodborne illnesses, we’re making a safer setting for everybody, together with our workers, and likewise being extra prudent with taxpayer {dollars},” Kimball stated in a latest tweet selling the job itemizing.

Anyplace between 12% and 35% of the U.S. jail inhabitants has hepatitis C, in line with the Hepatitis Training Undertaking, a nonprofit training and advocacy group that tracks the illness in correctional settings. The viral illness assaults the liver and may ultimately be deadly. It’s usually unfold by way of intravenous drug use or unsterilized medical gear.

In establishing a proper jail tattoo program, the state hopes to cut back recidivism by creating job alternatives for individuals once they go away jail, Kimball stated. To that purpose, the tattoo supervisor would assist prisoners develop digital tattoo artwork portfolios, earn licenses as tattoo professionals and supply path for future employment.

What are state jail officers searching for in a tattoo program supervisor? They need a licensed artist with at the very least three years of expertise and a “robust, well-rounded portfolio.” The momentary place would last as long as three years and pay anyplace from $58,986 to $86,923 annually. The job could be primarily based out of the Stillwater jail, in line with the state’s itemizing.

Minnesota isn’t the primary to experiment with a state-sponsored jail tattoo program. In 2005, Canada had a short-lived pilot program in six of its federal prisons with the purpose of curbing the unfold of hepatitis C and HIV.

Canada’s Conservative-led authorities on the time questioned the worth tag of this system, which value greater than $300,000 to start out and was anticipated to value greater than $600,000 annually, CBC Information reported in 2006. The federal government nixed this system and opted to again different initiatives reminiscent of education schemes on the dangers of HIV and hepatitis C transmission from tattoos.

There’s restricted information on how efficient authorized jail tattoo packages are at lowering the transmission of bloodborne illness in prisons. Supporters of the Canadian program within the 2000s stated the federal government didn’t give its tattoo program sufficient time to show its effectiveness.