{"data":{"id":"us-co/c.r.s.-30-15-401.4","jurisdiction":"us-co","citation":"C.R.S. § 30-15-401.4","heading":"Statewide policy to prevent the operation of illicit massage businesses - local regulation authorized - background checks required - legislative declaration - definitions.","body":"(1) (a) The general assembly finds and declares that:\n\n(I) Illicit massage businesses present a facade of legitimate services, concealing that the primary business is the sex and labor trafficking of victims who are trapped in these businesses. The reputation and success of legitimate massage therapy businesses is denigrated and undermined by individuals who conceal unlawful activities, such as human trafficking, by falsely posing as massage therapy businesses.\n\n(I.5) The operation of illicit massage therapy businesses is dangerous to the public and can result in unlawful sexual activities, human trafficking, illegal building improvements, zoning violations, and nuisance activities;\n\n(II) Human trafficking is a growing problem throughout Colorado. From 1977 until 2015, the Colorado massage parlor code authorized local governments to regulate massage parlors through licensure programs. In 2014, a sunset review recommended sunsetting the massage parlor code based on a view that the code was not \"a significant factor in the fight against prostitution\" and was not necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare. The Colorado massage parlor code was repealed in 2015 by Senate Bill 15-122, dismantling dozens of local licensing systems that local governments had enacted to address human trafficking.\n\n(II.5) The \"Massage Therapy Practice Act\", article 235 of title 12, was enacted in 2008 to regulate the profession of massage therapy and to provide for consistent statewide certification and oversight of massage therapists. The \"Massage Therapy Practice Act\" permits local governments to inspect massage therapy licenses and business premises where massage therapy is conducted to ensure compliance with applicable laws.\n\n(III) All local governments in the state already have authority to enact resolutions or ordinances to establish licensing authorities to regulate or otherwise regulate massage facilities and to deter and shut down illicit massage facilities where the facilities exist or are reasonably likely to occur;\n\n(III.5) In 2018, through its authority as a home rule municipality, the city of Aurora enacted an ordinance to regulate massage facilities to combat human trafficking by focusing directly on the perpetrators of trafficking and the deterrence of unlawful behavior as an alternative to traditional law enforcement approaches. Other municipalities followed suit and the general assembly subsequently enacted House Bill 22-1300 in 2022 to authorize counties to enact similar regulations.\n\n(IV) Because preventing the operation of illicit massage facilities by requiring current and prospective operators, owners, and employees of massage facilities to submit to periodic background checks and other regulation of massage facilities is a matter of mixed statewide and local concern, and because local governments have significant discretion to adopt ordinances and resolutions in accordance with local needs, it is necessary, appropriate, and in the best interest of all Coloradans to:\n\n(A) Require that every current and prospective operator, owner, and employee of a massage facility submit to a background check, which generally means a fingerprint-based criminal history record check, as required by this section; and\n\n(B) Require every local government in the state that has a massage facility within its jurisdictional boundaries to establish a local process that ensures that the background checks are conducted throughout the state in accordance with the requirements and limitations set forth in this section.\n\n(V) to (VIII) Repealed.\n\n(IX) Local regulation of massage facilities has been effective in reducing the number of illicit massage businesses, deterring the location of new illicit massage businesses, and focusing on the behavior of perpetrators of human trafficking; and\n\n(X) The local regulation of massage facilities, implemented consistently with the \"Massage Therapy Practice Act\", recognizes that massage therapy is a legitimate health-care profession that provides benefits to the residents of Colorado.\n\n(b) The general assembly further finds and declares that:\n\n(I) A local government may adopt a resolution or ordinance to establish business licensure requirements to regulate massage facilities or to regulate and prohibit unlawful activities at massage facilities for the purpose of deterring illicit massage businesses, preventing human trafficking, protecting legitimate massage therapy businesses, and safeguarding and promoting public health, safety, and welfare;\n\n(II) It is critical for effective local enforcement against human trafficking that local governments work together against this increasing criminal activity;\n\n(III) Licensing authorities and local law enforcement agencies are encouraged to report to the department of regulatory agencies information regarding criminal activities involving massage therapists;\n\n(IV) Most licensed massage therapists in Colorado are practicing lawfully and ethically; and\n\n(V) The general assembly does not intend to make the practice of lawful massage therapy more difficult for massage therapists in Colorado.\n\n(2) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:\n\n(a) \"Advertise\" means to publish, display, or disseminate information and includes, but is not limited to, the issuance of any card, sign, or direct mail, or causing or permitting any sign or marking on or in any building or structure or in any newspaper, magazine, or directory, or any announcement or display via any televised, computerized electronic, or telephonic networks or media.\n\n(a.3) \"Applicant\" means a person who has submitted an application to a licensing authority for an initial license or renewal of a license to operate a massage facility.\n\n(a.5) \"Background check\" means a fingerprint-based criminal history record check conducted in accordance with subsection (4)(c.5) of this section and section 24-33.5-424.5. \"Background check\" also includes, to the extent allowed or required, as applicable, by section 24-33.5-424.5 (1)(g) when a fingerprint-based criminal history record check cannot be completed or reveals a record of arrest without disposition, a criminal history record check using the Colorado bureau of investigation's records and a name-based judicial record check, as defined in section 22-2-119.3 (6)(d), performed using state judicial department records.\n\n(a.7) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2)(a.7)(II) of this section, \"employee\" means:\n\n(I) (A) An individual who is employed by a massage facility; or\n\n(B) An independent contractor who is hired by a massage facility to perform work that is part of the routine operations of the massage facility.\n\n(II) For the purpose of determining who is required to submit to a background check required by subsection (4)(c.5) of this section, \"employee\" does not include:\n\n(A) A massage therapist; or\n\n(B) An independent contractor who performs janitorial services or other routine facility maintenance services for a massage facility and has no contact with or only incidental contact with clients of the massage facility.\n\n(b) \"Erotic parlor\" means a facility that entices clients through advertising or other business practices directed towards sexual desire, lust, or passion.\n\n(c) \"Fully clothed\" means fully opaque, nontransparent material that must not expose an employee's genitalia or substantially expose the employee's undergarments.\n\n(d) \"Illicit massage business\" means a business that provides massage and:\n\n(I) Engages in human-trafficking-related offenses, as described in section 18-3-503 or 18-3-504; or\n\n(II) Commits other offenses as defined by state law or local ordinance.\n\n(e) \"Licensing authority\" means the governing body of a local government or, if a local government has exercised its authority to adopt a resolution or ordinance that establishes licensure requirements for massage facilities or to regulate and prohibit unlawful activities related to massage facilities, any authority designated by the local government's charter or in a resolution or ordinance to administer or enforce the business licensure requirements, regulations, or prohibitions for massage facilities established by the local government.\n\n(e.5) \"Local government\" means a home rule or statutory county, a city and county, or a home rule or statutory municipality.\n\n(e.7) \"Local law enforcement agency\" means:\n\n(I) A county sheriff's office;\n\n(II) A municipal police department; or\n\n(III) A town marshal's office.\n\n(f) \"Massage\" or \"massage therapy\" has the same meaning as defined in section 12-235-104 (4).\n\n(g) \"Massage facility\" means any place of business where massage therapy or full body massage is practiced or administered.\n\n(h) \"Massage therapist\" has the same meaning as defined in section 12-235-104 (5).\n\n(h.3) \"Operator\" means a person that is licensed by a licensing authority to operate a massage facility in accordance with a local resolution or ordinance or a person that is operating a massage facility without a license within the territory of a local government that does not require licensure of massage facilities; except that, for the purpose of determining whether a person is required to submit to a background check required by subsection (4)(c.5) of this section, \"operator\" does not include a massage therapist.\n\n(h.5) \"Owner\" means a person other than an operator that holds a legal ownership interest in a massage facility; except that a person that is not involved in the operation of a massage facility and whose ownership interest consists only of stock in a publicly traded company that owns or operates a massage facility is not an owner.\n\n(i) \"Person\" means a natural person, partnership, association, company, corporation, or organization or managing agent, servant, officer, partner, owner, operator, or employee of any of them.\n\n(j) \"Solo practitioner\" means a licensed massage therapist, as defined in section 12-235-104 (5), performing the practice of massage therapy independently.\n\n(k) \"Table shower\" means an apparatus for the bathing or massaging of a person on a table or in a tub.\n\n(3) (a) In addition to any other powers, a local government may adopt a resolution or ordinance to establish business licensure requirements or to regulate and prohibit unlawful activities to prevent the operation of illicit massage businesses that engage in human trafficking-related offenses as described in sections 18-3-503 and 18-3-504 or commit other offenses as defined by state law or local ordinance.\n\n(b) When developing a resolution or ordinance for adoption pursuant to this section, a county and a municipality within the county shall consult with each other. By mutual agreement between a county and a municipality within the county, a municipality may elect to have a county's resolution or ordinance adopted pursuant to this section apply to massage facilities operating within the jurisdictional boundaries of the municipality in lieu of adopting its own ordinance or resolution.\n\n(c) A local government is not required to adopt a resolution or ordinance as otherwise required by this subsection (3) if there are no massage facilities operating within the jurisdictional boundaries of the local government.\n\n(d) On and after August 13, 2026, when adopting a resolution or ordinance pursuant to this section, a local government shall consider the impacts of the resolution or ordinance on legitimate massage therapy businesses and conduct outreach to massage therapists and massage therapy businesses in the local government's jurisdiction and statewide organizations of massage therapists.\n\n(3.5) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3)(c) of this section, a local government shall establish a process in accordance with 34 U.S.C. sec. 41101, which must be established by ordinance or resolution, in accordance with 34 U.S.C. sec. 41101; must meet the criteria established by the federal bureau of investigation in implementing 34 U.S.C. sec. 41101; and must be performed in accordance with section 24-33.5-424.5, to require that, as a condition for a person remaining as or becoming an operator, owner, or employee:\n\n(a) An operator, owner, or employee on the effective date of the resolution or ordinance submit to a background check performed in accordance with section 24-33.5-424.5 on or before the earlier of July 1, 2026, or any other date specified by a local government in its process;\n\n(b) A prospective employee submit to a background check performed in accordance with section 24-33.5-424.5 before commencing employment with a massage facility; and\n\n(c) A prospective operator or owner submit to a background check performed in accordance with section 24-33.5-424.5 before, as applicable, being granted a license to operate a massage facility or assuming an ownership interest in a massage facility that would make the prospective owner an owner.\n\n(4) (a) If a local government adopts a resolution or ordinance to establish business licensure requirements for massage facilities as set forth in subsection (3)(a) of this section, the business licensure requirements may include:\n\n(I) Requiring that a massage facility obtain a license prior to opening for business and operating as a massage facility;\n\n(II) Requiring a reasonable administrative fee for issuing or renewing licensure applications. The fee must not be based on the number of employees. The administrative fee adopted by the local government must be reasonably related to the costs of the local government in administering the resolution or ordinance and the licensing of massage facilities. A fee that exceeds five hundred dollars is presumed to be unreasonable unless the local government establishes that a fee greater than five hundred dollars is necessary to cover the local government's costs of administering the resolution or ordinance and the licensing of massage facilities. The fee may be adjusted for inflation or deflation beginning on January 1, 2028, and on January 1 of each year thereafter. As used in this subsection (4)(a)(II), \"inflation or deflation\" means the annual percentage change in the United States department of labor's bureau of labor statistics consumer price index, or a successor index, for Denver-Aurora-Lakewood for all items paid for by urban consumers. The local government may round the adjusted fee amount upward or downward to the nearest dollar.\n\n(III) Designating a licensing authority to receive, review, approve, or deny applications;\n\n(IV) Allowing a licensing authority, or the licensing authority's designee, to deny an application for reasons described in the ordinance or resolution adopted by the local government, including if:\n\n(A) A required administrative fee is not paid;\n\n(B) The local government zoning or subdivision regulations do not allow for the operation of a massage facility;\n\n(C) The applicant or an owner, prospective owner, or employee has been convicted of or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere that is accepted by the court for a felony or misdemeanor for solicitation of a prostitute, as described in section 18-7-202; a human trafficking-related offense, as described in section 18-3-503 or 18-3-504; money laundering, as described in section 18-5-309;\n\n(D) The applicant or an owner, prospective owner, or employee is registered as a sex offender or is required by law to register as a sex offender, as described in section 16-22-103;\n\n(E) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2024).\n\n(F) The applicant has one or more previous revocations or suspensions of a license to operate a massage facility;\n\n(G) An employee of the massage facility for which the applicant has filed an application for a license has not submitted to a required background check before commencing employment with the massage facility pursuant to subsections (4)(c) and (4)(c.5) of this section; or\n\n(H) The applicant or an owner or prospective owner of the massage facility for which the applicant has filed an application for a license has not submitted to a required background check pursuant to subsections (4)(c) and (4)(c.5) of this section at least thirty days before, as applicable, being granted a license to operate the massage facility or assuming an ownership interest in a massage facility that would make the prospective owner an owner.\n\n(V) Allowing a licensing authority or a licensing authority's designee the discretion to deny an application after considering, in accordance with section 24-5-101, an applicant's, owner's or prospective owner's, or employee's or prospective employee's conviction of or plea of guilty or nolo contendere that is accepted by the court for a felony or a misdemeanor for fraud or theft or embezzlement, as described in section 18-4-401;\n\n(VI) Requiring licensees to maintain a list of employees on site with the start date of employment, full legal name, date of birth, home address, telephone number, and employment position of each employee;\n\n(VII) Requiring licensees and employees to have valid government identification, including but not limited to a form of identification described in section 24-21-521 (4)(a) and, for licensed massage therapists, a form of identification required for licensed massage therapists as described in section 24-34-107 (1), that must be immediately presented to a licensing authority or the licensing authority's designees upon request;\n\n(VIII) Requiring licensed massage therapists to maintain copies of valid massage therapy licensure, as required by article 235 of title 12, that must be immediately presented to a licensing authority, the licensing authority's designees, or law enforcement upon request;\n\n(IX) Requiring licensees to maintain a complete set of records, which may include accounts, invoices, payroll, employment records, and a log book of all massage therapy administered at the massage facility. The log book must include, but need not be limited to, the date, time, and type of massage therapy administered, and the name of the massage therapist administering the massage therapy. The licensee shall retain the records in the log book for a minimum of one year following the administration of massage therapy. Local law enforcement or the licensing authority, or the licensing authority's designee, may inspect the set of records during business hours.\n\n(X) Designating the licensing authority, or the licensing authority's designees, responsible for the enforcement of the resolution or ordinance;\n\n(XI) Setting penalties for the violation of prohibited activities as described in subsection (5) of this section;\n\n(XI.5) Granting a licensing authority, or the licensing authority's designees, authority to revoke or suspend a license for reasons described in the ordinance or resolution adopted by the local government, including if:\n\n(A) The licensee employs a person who has not submitted to a background check or an owner of the massage facility has not submitted to a background check as required pursuant to subsections (4)(c) and (4)(c.5) of this section;\n\n(B) The licensee employs a person who has been convicted of or entered a plea of nolo contendere that is accepted by the court for an offense listed in subsection (4)(a)(IV)(C) of this section or is registered as a sex offender or is required by law to register as a sex offender, as described in section 16-22-103; or\n\n(C) An owner of the licensed massage facility has been convicted of or entered a plea of nolo contendere that is accepted by the court for an offense listed in subsection (4)(a)(IV)(C) of this section or is registered as a sex offender or is required by law to register as a sex offender, as described in section 16-22-103;\n\n(XII) Granting a licensing authority, or the licensing authority's designees, the authority to revoke or suspend a license for violating prohibited acts pursuant to subsection (5) of this section. A licensing authority, or the licensing authority's designees, may temporarily suspend a license and schedule a hearing within fifteen days after the licensing authority makes findings as described in the ordinance or resolution adopted by the local government or finds:\n\n(A) The licensee willfully failed to disclose any information on the application as required;\n\n(B) The licensee knowingly permitted a person who does not hold a valid license pursuant to section 12-235-107 to perform massage therapy;\n\n(C) A pattern of activity that the massage facility is committing human trafficking-related offenses, as described in sections 18-3-503 and 18-3-504; and\n\n(D) The licensee failed to permit an inspection at a time the massage facility was open for business; and\n\n(XIII) Any other provisions related to the business licensure or operation of massage facilities that are deemed necessary by the local government for the protection of public health, safety, and welfare, so long as the resolution or ordinance does not conflict with the regulation of the practice of massage therapy pursuant to article 235 of title 12.\n\n(b) The licensing authority may issue a temporary massage facility license upon receipt of a completed massage facility license application involving the sale or change of ownership in a business. The temporary massage facility license is valid for thirty days, and the licensing authority shall renew the temporary massage facility license every thirty days until approval or denial of the massage facility license.\n\n(c) In investigating the fitness of any applicant, owner or prospective owner, or employee or prospective employee, a licensing authority shall require the applicant, owner or prospective owner, or employee or prospective employee to submit to a background check in accordance with subsection (4)(c.5) of this section. When considering an applicant's, owner's or prospective owner's, or employee's or prospective employee's criminal history record, the licensing authority shall also consider any information provided by the applicant, owner or prospective owner, or employee or prospective employee regarding the criminal history, including, but not limited to, evidence of mitigating factors, rehabilitation, character references, and educational achievements, especially the mitigating factors pertaining to the period between the applicant's, owner's or prospective owner's, or employee's or prospective employee's last criminal conviction and the consideration of the applicant's, owner's or prospective owner's, or employee's or prospective employee's application for a license or renewal, ownership or prospective ownership of a massage facility, or employment or prospective employment by a massage facility.\n\n(c.5) Repealed.\n\n(d) A licensing authority, or the licensing authority's designee, may report information to the department of regulatory agencies regarding criminal activity involving a licensed massage therapist.\n\n(4.5) (a) If a local government adopts a resolution or ordinance to establish business licensure requirements for massage facilities in accordance with this section, the business licensure requirements must prohibit a person from owning a massage facility if the person:\n\n(I) Has not submitted to a required background check before assuming an ownership interest in a massage facility that would make the prospective owner an owner pursuant to subsections (4)(c) and (4)(c.5) of this section; or\n\n(II) Has been convicted of or entered a plea of nolo contendere that is accepted by the court for an offense listed in subsection (4)(a)(IV)(C) of this section or is registered as a sex offender or is required by law to register as a sex offender, as described in section 16-22-103.\n\n(b) An operator or owner is prohibited from employing as an employee a person who has not submitted to a required background check pursuant to subsections (4)(c) and (4)(c.5) of this section.\n\n(c) An operator or owner that learns that a prospective employee or employee has been convicted of or entered a plea of nolo contendere that is accepted by the court for an offense listed in subsection (4)(a)(IV)(C) of this section or is registered as a sex offender or is required by law to register as a sex offender, as described in section 16-22-103, may hire the prospective employee to work at a massage facility or continue to employ the employee at a massage facility if the operator or owner believes that employing the prospective employee or employee does not pose a threat to customers or employees of the massage facility.\n\n(5) A local government may adopt a resolution or ordinance to prohibit activities to prevent the operation of illicit massage businesses that engage in human trafficking-related offenses as described in sections 18-3-503 and 18-3-504. Prohibited activities may include:\n\n(a) Allowing a person who does not hold a massage therapy license pursuant to section 12-235-107 to perform massage in a massage facility;\n\n(b) Advertising to a prospective client that services, including prostitution, sexual acts, escort services, sexual services, or services related to human trafficking disguised as legitimate services, are available;\n\n(c) Permitting sexual acts or sexual services within or near a massage facility or in relation to massage therapy;\n\n(d) Denying inspection of a massage facility by law enforcement or inspectors of a licensing authority;\n\n(e) Refusing, interfering with, or eluding immediate identification of employees of the massage facility to law enforcement or a licensing authority's appointed inspectors;\n\n(f) Failing to immediately report to law enforcement any act of sexual misconduct occurring in a massage facility;\n\n(g) Allowing an employee or contractor of a massage facility to provide massage therapy without being fully clothed;\n\n(h) Requiring client nudity as part of a massage without the client's prior consent;\n\n(i) Allowing a massage facility to be open and practicing massage therapy without a licensed massage therapist on the premises;\n\n(j) Permitting a person in a massage facility to make an agreement with an employee or contractor to engage in any prostitution-related offense in the massage facility or any other location;\n\n(k) Permitting a massage facility to be used for housing, sheltering, or harboring any person, or as living or sleeping quarters for any person; except that an owner and the owner's family members who operate a massage facility as a home business are exempt from the prohibited activity in this subsection (5)(k); and\n\n(l) Operating an erotic parlor on the premises of a massage facility.\n\n(6) (a) If authorized by the county resolution or ordinance, a law enforcement officer may follow the penalty assessment procedure described in section 16-2-201 for any violation of the prohibitions set forth in subsection (5) of this section. As part of the county ordinance or resolution authorizing the penalty assessment procedure, the county may adopt a graduated fine schedule for violations of the prohibitions set forth in subsection (5) of this section. A graduated fine schedule may provide for increased penalty assessments for repeat offenses by the same person.\n\n(b) A county may specify in the resolution or ordinance that a massage facility that engages in two or more violations of the resolution or ordinance is a public nuisance, as described in section 16-13-303, unless the violation is already a public nuisance, as described in section 16-13-303. The county attorney of a county, the city attorney of a city and county, or the district attorney acting pursuant to section 16-13-302 may bring an action in the district court of the county for an injunction against the massage facility that violates the resolution or ordinance.\n\n(7) A resolution or ordinance adopted by a local government pursuant to this section must not consider any of the following to be a massage facility:\n\n(a) Training rooms in public and nonpublic institutions of higher education, as defined in section 23-3.1-102 (5);\n\n(b) Training rooms of recognized professional or amateur athletic teams;\n\n(c) Offices, clinics, or other facilities in which medical professionals licensed by the state of Colorado, or any other state, provide massage services to the public in the ordinary course of the medical profession;\n\n(d) Medical facilities licensed by the state;\n\n(e) Barber shops, beauty salons, and other facilities in which barbers and cosmetologists licensed by the state provide massage services to the public in the ordinary course of the profession;\n\n(f) Bona fide athletic clubs that are not engaged in the practice of providing massage therapy to the members or to the public for remuneration or if an athletic club does not receive more than ten percent of its gross income providing massages to the athletic club's members or to the public;\n\n(g) A place of business where a person offers to perform or performs massage therapy:\n\n(I) For seventy-two hours or less in a six-month period; and\n\n(II) As part of a public or charity event in which the primary purpose is not to provide massage therapy;\n\n(h) A place of business where a licensed massage therapist practices as a solo practitioner and:\n\n(I) Does not use a business or assumed name; or\n\n(II) Uses a business or assumed name and provides the massage therapist's full legal name or license in each advertisement, and each time the business name or assumed name appears in writing; and\n\n(III) Does not maintain or operate a table shower; and\n\n(i) A hotel or resort with at least fifty rooms, at which massage services are provided as an ancillary amenity.","path":["Title 30 - GOVERNMENT - COUNTY","Article 15 - Regulation Under Police Power","Part 4 - GENERAL REGULATIONS"],"source_url":"https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-30.htm","current_through":"Colorado Revised Statutes 2026","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:37:45Z","sha256":"0ff2ddad87fa217370c2b0c1ac517632e8b9e3fe6cd00a03a90dc8da8de4c72b","source_id":"us-co","stale":false,"prev":"us-co/c.r.s.-30-15-401","next":"us-co/c.r.s.-30-15-401.5"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}