Kitsap County, WA Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

Kitsap County Code Chapter 6.40, "Massage Parlors," makes it unlawful under § 6.40.040 for "any person, firm, partnership, corporation or other entity" to "operate, conduct or finance a massage business" without a valid massage business license from the board of county commissioners. Applications go to the county auditor under § 6.40.050 and must disclose the owner's name, address and occupation; the business's name and address; whether it is a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation with full ownership detail; anyone with a criminal conviction (excluding minor traffic offenses); and a copy of the operator's individual massage license issued under RCW 18.108.

Each application carries a nonrefundable $100 fee. Within five days the auditor forwards the application to the sheriff, the department of community development, the department of public health and the prosecuting attorney; within twenty days those agencies investigate the applicant's background, zoning conformity, building and fire code compliance, and sanitation, and report back to the commissioners. The commissioners then hold a public hearing, noticed at the applicant's expense five to ten days ahead, and must find the applicant of good moral character, properly state-licensed, zoning-compliant and code-compliant before issuing the license.

A license issued under this process expires every December 31 and must be renewed through the same application procedure under § 6.40.060, with renewal denied to any operator whose masseurs have since been convicted under the chapter, RCW 18.108 or RCW 9A.88. The chapter separately prohibits body painting studios and photography studios outright under § 6.40.020, and individual masseurs need their own separate license under § 6.40.070. This licensing scheme reaches unincorporated Kitsap County only; a massage business inside Bremerton, Port Orchard, Poulsbo or Bainbridge Island is licensed under that city's own code.