Knoxville, TN Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

Section 16-490 of the Knoxville Code of Ordinances requires that "no person shall engage in or carry out the business of massage unless he has a valid massage establishment license issued by the city... for each and every separate office or place of business." Section 16-491 requires a sworn application to the police department with a one hundred dollar ($100.00) nonrefundable annual fee, referred within five days to the bureau of inspections, fire department and health department for a thirty-day compliance inspection, and requiring fingerprints, photographs, prior addresses, business history and the names of every massagist to be employed there. Section 16-493 separately requires each individual masseur or masseuse to hold a massagist's permit, issued under Section 16-494 for a seventy-five dollar ($75.00) annual fee, with the applicant's fingerprints, photographs, criminal history, and "written evidence that the applicant is at least eighteen (18) years of age." Section 16-494(9) requires a diploma or certificate showing "not less than seventy (70) hours of instruction" at a recognized massage school, though Section 16-498 waives that requirement if the applicant shows equivalent out-of-state or foreign training.

Section 16-496 gives the city up to ninety days to approve or deny a license or permit application, and every license or permit expires one year after issuance. Section 16-497 lists disqualifying grounds, including a felony conviction for violence, a sexual-misconduct offense, or a felony narcotics or weapons offense within the past five years, and any false statement on the application. Section 16-499 lets a multi-location massage business get one license per additional address for another hundred-dollar fee, and Section 16-500 requires the massagist's permit be posted in the work area and the establishment license displayed prominently.