Sacramento County regulations would change massage parlor manager requirements
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Managers may soon replace certification with a special business license to operate.
- Revised ordinance adds safety rules like unlocked entry doors during open hours.
- Policy shift aims to ease hiring while supporting anti-trafficking enforcement.
Managers and owners of massage businesses in Sacramento County may no longer be required to obtain therapist certification to operate their business as the Board of Supervisors will be reviewing the region’s regulations.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will be reviewing amendments that will waive requirements that managers of a massage parlor in Sacramento County must become certified by an approved massage therapy group, including the California Massage Therapy Council or a legacy provider.
If the ordinance’s amendments pass, managers will not need certification from either party. The ordinance’s proposed amendments allow managers to apply for, instead, a special business license to operate.
This new process includes paying an application fee, a required background check conducted by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and a signed Receipt of Ordinance saying the individual “understand(s) and accept(s) the duties and responsibilities of a Massage Manager,” the ordinance stated.
“This will also continue to allow Massage Establishment owners who are not CAMTC certified or Legacy Massage Providers to be the Massage Manager,” the ordinance stated.
The ordinance’s new amendments suggest stricter safety measures. The ordinance’s proposed amendments include prohibited massage areas and stricter privacy requirements. For example, a client’s private areas must be covered for an employee when an employee is in the room. Additionally, all front rooms like the reception room, hallway, and front exterior doors must be unlocked at all business hours.
In January, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors passed stricter guidelines for massage businesses to reduce human trafficking. Last year, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office learned that 70% of the 37 businesses they investigated had committed illegal sex acts for hire, according to past Sacramento Bee reporting.
The county’s new rules include at least one surveillance camera in a business’s lobby, a lighting requirement in each room, and a thorough registry with all employees, providers, and agents. Additionally, businesses are prohibited from operating from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.
After this ordinance passed in the winter, business owners expressed concern that the new rules added a burden that prevented them from obtaining certification. Once the original ordinance passed, managers of massage parlors were required to be certified.
“These businesses have a concern about the finite labor pool of individuals that are certified,” said Chad Rinde, the county’s director of finance. “The concern (is) about continuing to locate individuals to perform that function if the massage manager were to leave, essentially.”
BJ Pitts, a massage therapist who works in Sacramento County, told the Board the extra guidelines would put a strain on managers, requiring them to go through unneeded bureaucracy to run the business affairs of a massage parlor.
“We all know we’re trying to tighten in on the imposters, but we don’t, again, want to degrade the legitimate work,” Pitts said in January.
If approved, the adoption of these amendments will be held on August 5.
This story was originally published July 21, 2025 at 1:32 PM.
