Brooklyn Park, MN Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)
Key Facts
- Two licenses required
- therapist license + enterprise license
- Liability insurance
- $1,000,000 professional liability
- Training requirement
- 600 hours accredited training
- Background check
- Police Chief CCH investigation
- Chair-massage exemption
- up to 10 days/year, seated/clothed
- License authority
- City Manager issues/denies
Summary
In the City of Brooklyn Park, both individual massage therapists and the businesses that employ them, called therapeutic massage enterprises, need separate city licenses under Chapter 124. Therapists must carry $1,000,000 in professional liability insurance and complete 600 hours of accredited training, while the city runs a criminal background check on every enterprise applicant before granting a license.
(A) Massage therapy license. It shall be unlawful for any person to practice massage therapy or provide or offer to provide massage therapy within the city without a massage therapist license issued by the city. This includes persons providing massage therapy at therapeutic massage enterprises that have therapeutic massage enterprise licenses. (B) Therapeutic massage enterprise license. It shall be unlawful for any person or entity to operate a therapeutic massage enterprise within the city without a therapeutic massage enterprise license issued by the city.
Full Breakdown
04(B) separately makes it unlawful to operate a therapeutic massage enterprise without an enterprise license, even though the enterprise's owner need not personally be a licensed therapist. 03 defines a qualifying MASSAGE THERAPIST as someone carrying $1,000,000 in professional liability insurance who has completed 600 hours of accredited therapeutic massage training in anatomy, physiology, hygiene, ethics, and massage practice, or, for those who already had one year of experience, 500 hours with a path to complete the full 600 within two years of the chapter's adoption.
04(D) exempts state-licensed medical professionals acting within treatment, beauty culturists and barbers limited to the head, hands, neck, or feet, school athletic trainers, accredited students under instructor supervision, and "chair massage" offered no more than ten days a year to fully clothed, seated or standing customers at a location visible to staff and the public. 901 of the zoning code, though it is exempted from the vocation administrative permit requirement. 07 routes that investigation to the Police Chief for a criminal history (CCH) check before the City Manager issues or denies the license.
03 without shown rehabilitation, a massage-related license revoked or suspended within the past five years, false application information, or unpaid property taxes or assessments on the business premises.
Violations & Fines
Practicing massage therapy or operating a therapeutic massage enterprise without the applicable license under § 124.04 is unlawful, and the city may deny, suspend, or revoke a license under §§ 124.08 and 124.11 for a disqualifying criminal conviction, a prior license revocation within five years, false statements in the application, or unpaid taxes on the premises. A denied or revoked applicant can appeal to a hearing officer under the procedure in § 124.14.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a city license to work as a massage therapist in Brooklyn Park?
Does a massage business need its own license separate from the therapists it hires?
Are chair massages at events exempt from Brooklyn Park's massage license?
Can Brooklyn Park deny a massage enterprise license for a criminal record?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Brooklyn Park
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Massage Establishments in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Hennepin County handle massage establishments.