Bowling Green, KY Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

Sec. 15-10 of the Bowling Green Code of Ordinances requires an annual Massage Facility license from the Department of Finance for any premises where nonmedical massage or manipulative services are performed by someone who is not a state-licensed Massage Therapist. The license runs from issuance to the next renewal date and requires a $50 nonrefundable application fee, renewed annually for another $50, filed with the Department of Finance at least 30 days before expiration. Applications must list every owner, officer, director and Massage Facility Employee, a resident agent living in Warren County, prior employment history for three years, and a ten-year criminal background check for the applicant and its principals; the City-County Planning Commission must also sign off that the location is a permitted use under the zoning district regulations.

Within 15 business days of receiving an application, the Code Compliance Division inspects the facility before the Licensing Division can issue the license, which it must do within 30 days of receiving the inspection report if the facility passes and no principal has a disqualifying felony or a KRS Chapter 510 or 529 conviction in the past five years. State-licensed Massage Therapists working under their own state license are exempt from the facility license but must file a copy of that license and an affidavit with the Department of Finance to receive an exemption certificate, which must be posted alongside any facility license at the premises.