Augusta-Richmond County, GA Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)
Key Facts
- Operator's license fee
- $120 application fee
- Practitioner license
- Separate state massage therapy license required
- Outcall businesses
- Also require an operator's license
- Violation penalty
- Misdemeanor under section 1-6-1
- License approval
- Augusta-Richmond County Commission grants or denies
Summary
Augusta-Richmond County requires anyone operating a massage therapy business to hold a current operator's license, with a separate massage therapy license required for each practitioner performing treatments on customers.
Any person desiring to own, operate, conduct or carry on, in Augusta, Georgia, the business of offering or providing massage therapy, before doing so, shall have in his possession a then current operator's license. A licensee holding an operator's license under this chapter is not authorized or licensed to actually perform the massage therapy on customers of the massage therapy business unless such licensee also holds a massage therapy license.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Recodification).
Full Breakdown
Under Augusta-Richmond County Code section 6-4-2, anyone who owns, operates, or conducts a massage therapy business in Augusta must hold a current operator's license before opening, and each therapist who actually performs massage on customers must separately hold a state-issued massage therapy license. The rule also reaches businesses without a local office that send therapists into Augusta on an outcall basis. Physicians, nurses, physical therapists, chiropractors, and licensed athletic trainers are exempt. Operator's license applicants pay a $120 application fee, undergo a criminal background check, and must present their case to the Augusta-Richmond County Commission, which can grant, deny, or defer the application for up to 45 days.
Violations & Fines
Operating a massage therapy business or performing massage without the required license is a misdemeanor under section 1-6-1; the Commission may also suspend or revoke licenses for violations, including moral-turpitude or prostitution convictions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do individual massage therapists need their own license in Augusta?
What does an Augusta massage establishment operator's license cost?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Augusta-Richmond County
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