The Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation (TDLR) licenses, monitors, and regulates dozens of licensed professions for compliance with the rules and regulations that apply to them, including barbers and cosmetologists. A summary of recent disciplinary actions by TDLR against barbers and cosmetologists follows.
No matter your situation, a professional license defense lawyer can help. We aim to assist you with your proceedings before TDLR and achieve the most positive outcome possible in your case.
Disciplinary Cases Involving Barbers
TDLR resolved 13 disciplinary cases involving barbers in March 2025. In ten of the cases, TDLR assessed an administrative penalty ranging from $750 to $13,500. In one case involving the failure of a barber school to have a licensed instructor present, TDLR imposed a fully probated six-month license suspension. Four licensees had their licenses revoked by operation of law for incarceration in a penitentiary.
In two cases, the licensee failed to cooperate with the TDLR inspector or investigator in performing their duties; each case involved multiple violations. In another case, an individual continued to work with an expired barber’s license. One case involved the failure to keep the barber shop clean and in good repair and the failure to provide plumbing with running hot and cold water.
Five disciplinary cases involved barbers employing unlicensed persons. Some cases involved barber schools; two cases concerned barber schools failing to properly account for each student’s hours.
Disciplinary Cases Involving Cosmetologists
In contrast, TDLR oversaw 36 disciplinary cases involving cosmetologists in March 2025. Thirty-four of the 36 cases resulted in TDLR assessing an administrative penalty against the licensee ranging from $750 to $8,500.
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The most common violation by cosmetologists was a failure to record the date and time of each foot spa’s daily or bi-weekly cleaning and if the foot spa was not used. Ten cases involved this violation. An additional eight cases involved licensees who employed an individual as an operator who had not obtained a cosmetology license.
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Five licensees failed to clean, disinfect, and sterilize metal instruments with a Department-approved sterilizer in accordance with the sterilizer or sanitizer manufacturer’s instructions. Four licensees failed to follow whirlpool foot spas cleaning and sanitization procedures as required, and three failed to follow whirlpool foot spas cleaning and sanitization procedures bi-weekly.
Each of the following violations occurred in two separate cases:
- Failure to clean, disinfect, and sterilize manicure and pedicure implements after each use;
- Failure to clean and disinfect all wax pots; and
- Failure to store eyelash extensions in a sealed bag or covered container and kept in a clean, dry, debris-free storage area.
Other single-case violations included the following:
- Failure to cooperate with the inspector or investigator in the performance of an inspection or investigation;
- Failure to clean and sanitize whirlpool foot spas as required at the end of each day;
- Failure to utilize clean and disinfected implements;
- Failure to dispose of single-use items after each use;
- Failure to properly ventilate the salon to eliminate strong odors away from the public area;
- Allowing a licensee to perform a cosmetology service on a client with a contagious condition;
- Failure to store in a clean, dry, debris-free environment, separate from soiled implements and materials, all cleaned and disinfected implements and materials when not in use;
- Failure to clean and disinfect shampoo bowls prior to use for each client;
- Failure to utilize clean and disinfected implements;
- Failure to clean, disinfect, and sterilize manicure and pedicure implements after each use;
- Failure to clean diamond, carbide, natural, and metal bits after each use with a brush or ultrasonic cleaner or by immersing in acetone; and
- Failure to keep all products properly labeled in compliance with OSHA requirements.
Some disciplinary cases involved cosmetology schools. The violations in those cases were as follows:
- Failing to have a licensed instructor at the school during operational hours;
- Allowing a student to leave the school building without first clocking out;
- Failing to obtain Department approval before offering a distance education course;
- Failing to provide a student with required information;
- Respondent awarded credit more than 184 hours or the equivalent of 4.9 credit hours per calendar month; and
- Failing to maintain a refund policy for the refund of the unused part of tuition, fees, and other charges paid by a student.
TDLR also placed one individual’s Manicurist Specialty Establishment license on a one-year fully probated suspension for being in possession of bottles containing methyl methacrylate monomer. The agency also placed another individual’s Manicurist/Esthetician Specialty Establishment license on a one-year fully probated suspension for gross malpractice.
Two license revocations by operation of law due to the licensees’ incarceration in a penitentiary.
Contact Your Texas Professional License Defense Lawyers Today
Our experienced professional license defense attorneys at Bertolino LLP know the ins and outs of disciplinary proceedings before the TDLR. We will advocate for you to be in the best position to maintain and safeguard your license, as well as ensure your professional future. Call us at (512) 980-3751 or contact us online.
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