Middletown, OH Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)
Key Facts
- Establishment permit fee
- $500.00 nonrefundable
- Practitioner license fee
- $100.00 nonrefundable
- Minimum age
- 18 practitioner / 21 establishment permit
- Training requirement
- 160 hours anatomy/massage instruction
- Operating hours
- Closed 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.
- Issuing authority
- Police Chief or designee
- Penalty
- Misdemeanor of the first degree
Summary
Middletown requires separate Police Chief-issued licenses for massage practitioners and for the establishments that employ them: a $100.00 practitioner license and a $500.00 establishment permit, each backed by a fingerprint background check. Chapter 832 also bars any massage establishment from opening between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.
§ 832.03 LICENSING OF MASSAGE PRACTITIONERS AND MASSAGE ESTABLISHMENTS; PERMITS REQUIRED; PROHIBITIONS. ... (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to practice, administer, to offer, agree to practice any subject or method of treatment listed in § 832.01(b) in the City, whether for a fee, income or consideration of any kind, without first obtaining and maintaining in effect a valid and current massage practitioner license as required by this chapter. (b) It shall be unlawful for any person, association, firm, or corporation to own, operate or participate in the operation of a massage establishment or to perform such services in the City, nor shall any premises be erected, altered, used, arranged or designed to be used in whole or in part as a massage establishment without first obtaining and maintaining in effect a valid and current massage establishment permit as required by this chapter. ... (e) It shall be unlawful for any massage establishment to remain open for business or provide services any time between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.
Full Breakdown
03 of the Middletown Code of Ordinances makes it unlawful to practice massage, to own or operate a massage establishment, or to employ a massage practitioner in the city without the license or permit the chapter requires; a revoked or suspended license does not count as valid. 02 puts the Police Chief or a designee in charge of issuing, renewing, denying, suspending, and revoking both credentials. 00 for a massage practitioner license, both nonrefundable, and requires the applicant's fingerprints, criminal history, and, for practitioners, proof of at least 160 hours of anatomy, physiology, and massage-technique instruction from a board-approved school. C. Chapter 2907. , regardless of the permit holder's own hours elsewhere.
Violations & Fines
Operating, employing an unlicensed practitioner at, or keeping a massage establishment open outside the 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. curfew violates § 832.03 and is a misdemeanor of the first degree under § 832.99, with each day of violation a separate offense. A license revocation or suspension is not a defense to prosecution for the same conduct.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Middletown
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