What permits do you need to open a salon or barber in Baldwin County Al?

General County Privilege License — Beauty Parlors

A beauty parlor or full-service salon in Baldwin County owes this county privilege license through the Probate Office's Title 40-12 process: $16 total for the shop owner plus $6 total for each additional operator employed, since every city in Baldwin County falls under the under-60,000-population tier (the $9-per-operator rate only applies in larger cities, none of which exist in this county). A four-operator salon in, for example, Fairhope would owe $15 (owner license) plus 4 x $6 (operators) plus the $1 issuance fee, for $40 total. This classification also covers beauty-parlor colleges. It is separate from the individual operator's own state cosmetology license from the Alabama Board of Cosmetology and Barbering (state layer) and from the shop's own $200 state 'shop license,' which requires a board inspection. Baldwin's own Business License Application form lists '61 – BEAUTY SHOPS' among the classifications the Probate Office actively collects. This county license stacks with, rather than replaces, any incorporated city's own separate municipal business license.

General County Privilege License — Barbers

A barbershop in Baldwin County (haircutting services, as distinct from a full-service beauty parlor offering chemical or facial services) owes this county privilege license through the Probate Office's Title 40-12 process: $4.75 total for the first chair and $3.75 total for each additional chair, so a three-chair shop owes $4.75 + $3.75 + $3.75 = $12.25. This is separate from, and does not substitute for, the individual barber's own state licensing credential from the Alabama Board of Cosmetology and Barbering, recorded at the state layer. Baldwin's own Business License Application form lists '58 – BARBERS' by name among the classifications the Probate Office collects, confirming this classification is actively administered locally rather than being a dormant statutory provision. This county license is required whether the shop sits in an incorporated city or the unincorporated area; a business inside city limits additionally owes that city's own separate municipal business license.

General County Privilege License — Self-Employed Manicurists and Hairdressers

A self-employed manicurist or hairdresser working independently, not as an employee of a Section-61-licensed beauty parlor, owes this separate $8.50 total county privilege license through the Probate Office. It does not apply to a manicurist or hairdresser already working inside a licensed shop — that person's activity is covered under the shop's own Beauty Parlor classification (§40-12-61, recorded as a separate Baldwin County requirement) rather than owing this classification a second time. This is a flat annual fee with no tiering by city population or chair count, unlike the Barbers and Beauty Parlors classifications. It is separate from the individual's own state cosmetology license from the Alabama Board of Cosmetology and Barbering, recorded at the state layer, and stacks with any incorporated city's own separate municipal business license if the business is located inside city limits.

Salon and Barber Shop License

Alabama merged its cosmetology and barbering boards, and the statutory definition of a shop covers both trades plus mobile salons — so a barber shop, a hair salon and a mobile unit all take the same license at the same price, and the rules provide only two business license types in total, shop and school. Two hundred dollars new, $150 to renew, with everything else priced modestly: relocation $50, a name or ownership change $25, and $25 for both together. Miss the 31 October postmark and the late charge is $54. The fee schedule here is unusually current, having been amended with effect from May 2026. Remember the second license: a salon also owes the beauty parlour privilege license at $16 for the owner plus $6 or $9 for each additional operator, or the barber shop version at $4.75 for the first chair plus $3.75 for each additional one, and the county issuing it is not required to check that the board license exists.

Shared with other businesses in Baldwin County Al

• Massage Parlor License — Baldwin County Commission (county governing body), No dollar fee is set in the statute itself — §45-2-40.02 delegates fee-setting to the Baldwin County governing body's own resolution, which is not reproduced in the statute, not stated in the statute; a revoked license bars re-licensing in the county for 12 months (§45-2-40.13). Also required for fitness studios; what it involves is set out on the fitness studios page.