16.3 Fees, Inspections, Complaints, and Enforcement
Key Takeaways
- Published amounts to memorize: enrollment $20; practical not to exceed $65 payable to the school; each Prov written exam $78; practitioner renewal $50 biennially; reciprocity $50 one-time; new establishment $100; salon relocation $50; new school $1,000; establishment renewal $50 annually; duplicate $10; certification $10; lifetime $50; practitioner reinstatement 50 percent of the proposed renewal fee; hot check $25 plus bank fees.
- Post the most recent inspection sheet, current licenses, and the Cosmetology Section complaint website and phone number; never display an expired or invalid license.
- Remaining 2026 CTAC meetings are September 28 and November 16 at the Freeway Medical Building, 5800 West 10th Street, Room 906, Little Rock; public comment is two minutes if the subject was submitted in writing to the Section in advance.
- A written FOIA request for a complaint filed against you is forwarded to counsel; names, phone numbers, and email addresses are usually extracted before release.
- The Cosmetology Section mails a license 10 to 14 days after receiving passing scores; unlicensed practice, expired practice, and sanitation failures follow an inspection and disciplinary path, without a one-size fine dollar amount published in the sources used here.
16.3 Fees, Inspections, Complaints, and Enforcement
Quick Answer: Pay the published amounts: school enrollment $20; practical not to exceed $65, payable to the school; each Prov written exam $78 (the Department fee schedule sets no written-examination fee); practitioner renewal $50 biennially; reciprocity $50 one-time; new establishment $100; salon relocation $50; establishment renewal $50 annually; duplicate $10; certification of records $10; lifetime $50; practitioner reinstatement 50% of the proposed renewal fee; hot check $25 plus bank fees. Shops post the most recent inspection sheet and complaint contacts. Remaining 2026 Cosmetology Technical Advisory Committee (CTAC) meetings: September 28 and November 16 at Freeway Medical, 5800 West 10th Street, Room 906, Little Rock. Public comment is two minutes and only if the subject was submitted in writing in advance. Inspections and discipline exist for unlicensed work, expired practice, and sanitation failures; do not invent a fine dollar amount the opened sources do not publish.
Read the fee table, then pay the current vendor
Arkansas Code § 17-26-209 requires the Cosmetology Section to collect fees per the published schedule. For written testing in 2026, candidates follow Prov, Inc. and the ADH FAQ: $78.00 paid directly to Prov for each written exam, first time or retake. NIC Nail Technology theory and Arkansas State Law are two exams, so written testing is $156 at those rates before any retake. Under Examination for licensing, the current Cosmetology and Body Art Rule (effective September 5, 2024) lists only Practical (Payable to School) — not to exceed $65.00, and sets no written-examination fee. The $60 written line that older study lists quote came from the superseded 2020 Rules for Cosmetology in Arkansas. Schools collect the practical fee and may not exceed that published amount.
| Type | Current published amount |
|---|---|
| Enrollment into a cosmetology school | $20 per enrollment |
| Practical examination, payable to the school (Department table) | not to exceed $65 |
| Written examination, Department table | no fee published (the $60 line was in the superseded 2020 rule) |
| Each written exam paid to Prov (CIB 2026.01.05 and FAQ) | $78 |
| Practitioner renewal | $50 biennially |
| Reciprocity for a practitioner | $50 one-time |
| New establishment | $100 one-time |
| Salon relocation | $50.00 one-time |
| Establishment renewal | $50 annually |
| New school | $1,000 one-time |
| School renewal | $250 annually |
| Change of name and/or ownership of a school | $100 |
| Name and/or ownership change of an establishment | $25 for one; $50 for both |
| Duplicate license | $10 per license |
| Certification of Department records | $10 per license |
| Reinstatement — practitioner | 50% of proposed renewal fee |
| Lifetime license | $50 one-time |
| Hot check | $25 service charge plus applicable bank fees |
Worked example: after passing scores arrive, the Section mails the license in 10–14 days. Priya also opens a nail suite as a new establishment: Online Salon Application $100, then a letter of authorization lets her open pending inspection; she does not receive the establishment license until inspected and approved. If she relocates next year, FAQs require an Establishment Relocation application and the required fee — $50 on the table — before she may open at the new location. If she sells the suite, the buyer files Establishment Change of Status and pays $25 for one change or $50 for both name and ownership.
A check that does not clear is not a completed payment. The fee table adds a hot check event: $25 service charge plus the bank's fees, and the underlying enrollment, renewal, or application still failed.
What inspectors look at, and what must be posted
17 CAR § 54-109: the Department conducts initial, routine, and complaint inspections. Cosmetology establishments and mobile salons are inspected at least annually, and also when complaints arrive. Inspections include examination of licenses, buildings and equipment, reporting violations, investigating complaints, and initial inspections of new establishments.
17 CAR § 54-108 consumer information requires all of the following in a designated place in the reception area, at individual workstations, or in the clinic area:
- A copy of the most recent inspection sheet, posted conspicuously
- Establishment, practitioner, student-permit, and instructor licenses posted conspicuously
- No license that has expired or become invalid displayed in connection with practice
- A copy of the online complaint website and phone number for the Department of Health Cosmetology or Body Art Section
An expired manicurist card clipped to a mirror as decoration is still a posting violation even if a current card is in a wallet. The inspection sheet on the wall must be the most recent one, not last year's sheet kept because the score looked better.
Complaints and FOIA
File complaints through the Cosmetology complaint channel published on the ADH hub. If a complaint is filed against you, FAQs: under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) you may request a copy in writing. The request is forwarded to counsel, who decides what can be released. Usually names, phone numbers, and email addresses are extracted before the complaint is sent to you. Do not expect an unredacted gossip packet, and do not treat a redacted copy as proof that the complaint never existed.
CTAC is for meetings and appeals, not walk-up licensing
Remaining 2026 CTAC meetings published on the Cosmetology hub: September 28, 2026 and November 16, 2026, at the Freeway Medical Building, 5800 West 10th Street, Room 906, Little Rock. Cosmetology Section office hours and mail stay at 4815 West Markham Street, Slot 8. Do not mail a fee check to Room 906, and do not show up at Slot 8 expecting the committee hearing.
Public comment: yes, but the subject must be submitted in writing to the Section in advance. If approved, you are added to the agenda with a two (2) minute limit. That is not an open microphone during an inspector's visit, and it is not how you pick up a wall license.
If the Department has taken action and you want to appeal to CTAC, 17 CAR § 54-109 requires the appeal in writing to the Department within thirty (30) days of receipt of the Department action. Hearings for disciplinary cases may be held bimonthly. A hearing attended by two or more members is a meeting, but a final order of the committee shall not be imposed by fewer than three members. A final order may be appealed to the State Board of Health within 30 days of its receipt. The Department may also issue an emergency order of suspension on written notice if public health, safety, or welfare imperatively requires immediate suspension; that order is reviewed by the committee with an administrative hearing on whether the suspension continues or the license is revoked.
Unlicensed work, expired work, sanitation — discipline without invented fines
Practicing without a license, working on an expired license, and sanitation failures are inspection and disciplinary subjects. FAQs already warn that working expired can bring an inspector violation. Statute makes it unlawful for an establishment to employ an unlicensed person as a manicurist. Independent OpenExamPrep teaching names the path: inspection, reported violation, possible Department action, possible CTAC hearing, possible emergency suspension when public health requires it. The opened fee schedule lists hot check $25 plus bank fees and says Act 114's discount did not include fines or violations. It does not publish a single dollar fine for every sanitation or unlicensed-practice count. Do not memorize a made-up per-chair penalty. Learn the conduct that triggers enforcement.
Keep the wall honest: current cards displayed or worn, inspection sheet posted, complaint contacts posted, no expired licenses as décor. That posting set is how the public, and the inspector, reads your shop before any hearing calendar is involved.
Andre is paying for the Arkansas State Law written exam in 2026. The current Department fee schedule lists no written-examination fee. What does he actually pay, using the Prov CIB dated 2026.01.05 and the ADH FAQ?
How does a licensee make a public comment at a Cosmetology Technical Advisory Committee meeting?
An inspector finds a manicurist working on paying clients with an expired practitioner license and an outdated inspection sheet on the wall. Which enforcement statement matches the opened ADH rules, FAQs, and fee schedule?
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