Changes to Montana Barber License Requirements

HB 81, signed by Governor Bullock on February 17, 2015, creates a new mandatory state license in Montana for “barbering nonchemical.” The new law provides that a person may not practice or teach barbering nonchemical without a state license.

The practice or teaching of barbering nonchemical is defined in the new law as the practice or teaching of barbering, but “without the use of chemicals to wave, straighten, color, bleach, or highlight hair.”

Under the new law, the State Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists must issue rules for the qualification and licensure of applicants to practice barbering nonchemical, subject to the licensing requirements stated in the law itself. Those requirements include that the applicant must have:

  1. Passed a barbering nonchemical exam,
  2. Completed a course of study of at least 1,000 hours in a licensed barbering or barbering nonchemical school, not including hours applicable to the use of chemicals to wave, straighten, color, bleach, or highlight hair, and
  3. Received a diploma from the barbering or barbering nonchemical school completed the course of study in barbering or barbering nonchemical at a Board-authorized school of cosmetology.

The law also sets forth requirements for the mandatory licensing of schools and individuals teaching barbering nonchemical.

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