Texas Occupations Code Chapter 455 makes massage therapy a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation program; Dallas County does not issue its own massage licenses. The Dallas County Sheriff and District Attorney partner with cities and TDLR on illicit massage and trafficking enforcement.
Under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 455, every massage therapist, instructor, school, and establishment operating in Dallas County must hold a TDLR license. TDLR sets training, exam, sanitation, and posting requirements statewide and conducts inspections through its enforcement division. Dallas County, as a Texas county, has no authority to add a separate establishment license; cities like Dallas (Code Chapter 41), Irving, and Plano layer municipal permits and zoning. Dallas County Sheriff's Vice Unit and the Dallas County District Attorney's Human Trafficking Bureau partner with TDLR investigators on illicit massage parlor cases under Penal Code 20A and Occupations Code 455.302. Suspicious operations can be reported to TDLR or DCSO.
Practicing massage without TDLR licensure is a Class A misdemeanor under Occupations Code 455.351. Licensees face administrative penalties, license revocation, and possible referral to the Dallas County DA for trafficking-adjacent prosecutions when warranted.
See how Irving's massage establishments rules stack up against other locations.
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