Prison tattoo program gives participants skills while reducing risk

+ Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Prison tattoo program gives participants skills while reducing risk A new program in Missouri allows people serving time in prison to earn a tattoo license while also reducing the risk of infections and illness from contraband tattoos. National Prison tattoo program gives participants skills while reducing risk June 22, 20264:52 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition From By Rebecca A Smith Prison tattoo program gives participants skills while reducing risk Listen &middot; 3:44 3:44 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5830431/nx-s1-9819323" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript A new program in Missouri allows people serving time in prison to earn a tattoo license while also reducing the risk of infections and illness from contraband tattoos. Sponsor Message MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: It's fairly common for people in prison to get homemade tattoos while serving their sentences. They create these contraband tattoos with makeshift equipment, which can lead to serious and even life-threatening infections. Now a program in Missouri is helping reduce illegal prison tattoos through a tattoo license program. It's one of the first of its kind nationwide. Rebecca Smith with member station KBIA has the story.

+ HARLAN SHAVER: Five. Six. REBECCA SMITH, BYLINE: Harlan Shaver (ph) has gotten a lot of tattoos while incarcerated. SHAVER: Twelve, 13. Thirteen of them. SMITH: His black edge tattoos appear faint and hazy on the skin. Shaver says he's also done contraband tattooing while locked up. The illegal tattoos are done with makeshift tools and without proper sanitation. SHAVER: Now, with a program like this, don't even have to worry about getting in trouble doing it and I can actually do something I love. SMITH: That program is the Missouri Department of Corrections tattoo apprenticeship program, where inmates can earn their tattoo license while incarcerated. Deakin O'Connor is a licensed tattoo artist and the program instructor at Algoa Correctional Center outside Jefferson City, Missouri. DEAKIN O'CONNOR: This program gives these guys to express their artistic creative freedom in a way that doesn't make them feel like criminals anymore. SMITH: O'Connor says he's currently working with his first three students, who will spend weeks learning proper sanitation and art history, as well as practicing on synthetic skins. Then they'll practice on one another. And when O'Connor thinks they're ready, their tattoo parlor will open to other inmates who will pay for the time it takes the artist to do the tattoo at a rate of $10 an hour. O'CONNOR: Not everybody wants to work on coding or cars or construction. There's a lot of talent that come out of here. SMITH: Erica Williams runs the educational programs at Algoa and says they've been working with other state agencies to ensure that the apprenticeship is equivalent to programs outside prisons. Each student will still have to log 300 training hours. ERICA WILLIAMS: We've realized as a department how important it is that we are preparing our residents to do something productive when they get out the door. SMITH: The hope, she says, is that offering high-quality, safe color tattoos to inmates will cut down on contraband tattoos, which in turn reduces the risk of infection and blood-borne illness. Josh Gaines is a deputy program director at the Council of State Governments Justice Center. He's involved with the Reentry 2030 initiative, a multistate effort to reduce recidivism and increase success for those leaving prison. JOSH GAINES: Vocational education programming alone. It's been found to reduce the odds of recidivism by 43% and has a 205% return on investment on average across states. (SOUNDBITE OF TATTOO MACHINE BUZZING) SMITH: Back in Algoa, the three students are practicing their skills. Eric Higgins (ph) is busy tattooing a tiger's paw. He says he feels grateful and lucky to be in the apprenticeship program because it's preparing him for meaningful employment post-incarceration and it's allowing him to feel, in his words, like more of a person again. ERIC HIGGINS: Everybody deserves a job, and, you know, mistakes shouldn't define a person. SMITH: If there's any concern about taxpayer dollars being used to train tattoo artists, the DOC provides a variety of job programs, and officials say they believe professional tattooing is a good employable option for incarcerated individuals because there's fewer barriers for those with a criminal record. For NPR News, I'm Rebecca Smith in Jefferson City, Missouri. (SOUNDBITE OF NOKENOK'S "SECOND STEP") Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{309:function(e,n,o){o.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([o.e(1),o.e(2),o.e(3),o.e(4),o.e(81)]).then((e=>{o(15),o(770),o(154),o(175),o(93),o(448),o(253),o(128),o(130),o(755),o(174),o(756),o(254),o(77),o(774)}).bind(null,o)).catch(o.oe)},783:function(e,n,o){e.exports=o(309)}},[[783,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();