St. Clair County, IL Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

St. Clair County requires a permit from the County Clerk before anyone opens a massage establishment in the unincorporated county, under Sec. 8-3-2 of the County Code. Every applicant files a duplicate sworn application with the Clerk and pays a nonrefundable $500 filing fee to the County Treasurer (Sec. 8-3-3). The Clerk forwards the application within five days to the Sheriff, County Board Chairman, State's Attorney and other County departments; the Zoning Administration, Building Inspector and Sheriff then have thirty days to jointly inspect the premises and report on code compliance.

The Sheriff investigates the applicant's business and moral character and endorses approval or disapproval within ten days of receiving those reports. Applicants, and any partner, officer, director or 10%+ stockholder of a corporate applicant, must supply their name, address, three years of residential history, physical description, employment history, prior massage-license history, criminal and county-ordinance conviction record, and fingerprints and photographs (Sec. 8-3-4). Once the Zoning Department certifies compliance, the Clerk issues the establishment permit only after the county collects a $5,000 permit fee per establishment (Sec.

8-3-5). The Clerk must deny the permit if the applicant or anyone managing the business has been convicted of a felony, an offense involving sexual misconduct with children, or prostitution-related offenses. Each individual masseur or masseuse also needs a separate permit, issued or denied on the same felony/morals-conviction grounds, within five days of the Sheriff's report (Sec. 8-3-10). Every permit expires after one year unless sooner suspended or revoked, and a masseur or masseuse permit can be revoked for a false statement, a missed physical exam, or a Code violation (Sec. 8-3-11), with a right to appeal a suspension to the County Board Chairman within ten days.