Springfield, IL Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

Sec. 931 makes it unlawful to advertise, offer, or carry on the operation of a massage establishment without a city license, with exemptions for licensed hospitals and health professionals, school athletic trainers, licensed barbers and cosmetologists doing limited clothed-patron massage, accredited massage schools, home-based massage by a state-licensed provider complying with home occupation rules, and off-site work by an already-licensed establishment. Applicants file with the city clerk and pay a nonrefundable $25 fee (Sec. 932(a)); the clerk then routes the application within five days to the police, public works, fire, and county health departments and the office of business licensing, which have 30 days to inspect and recommend before the mayor makes the final call (Sec.

932(b)). The mayor must deny a license if the operation would violate building, health, zoning, or fire codes, or if the applicant or any manager has a felony conviction, a sexual misconduct conviction involving children, or a prostitution-related conviction, though the mayor may waive a felony bar after five years with no further convictions and evidence of rehabilitation (Sec. 934). Operating rules under Sec. 936 require non-transparent outer garments covering the sexual and genital areas at all times, ban touching a patron's genital area outright, require separate dressing rooms by sex, require price lists posted in the reception area, and require posted notices warning that soliciting a sexual act is a Class 4 felony. m. (Sec. 936(r)), no one may stay overnight on the premises (Sec. 936(t)), and the license expires every January 1 (Sec. 934(c)).