St. Joseph County, IN Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

05 requires the health department's permit before anyone opens a massage establishment or performs massage therapy, though licensed nurses, physicians, chiropractors, osteopaths, physical therapists, students in a recognized school, certain athletic trainers, and licensed estheticians performing only skin manipulation are exempt from the practitioner permit. 05(C) bars that person from holding either a massage establishment or massage therapy permit outright. 06 must be filed by February 28 every year and include the establishment's legal name, current address and phone number, a photo of the owner (who must be the applicant), three years of business history including any prior license suspensions or revocations, and proof the location is properly zoned.

08 requires the annual fee set by the county board of commissioners to be paid by the same February 28 deadline, with a late penalty for anyone who misses it, and the permit must be posted where customers can see it during business hours. 10 mandate a lockable restroom with hot and cold water and antibacterial soap, ban non-white lighting in treatment rooms, require massage tables no wider than three feet and no longer than eight feet, and set linen-washing temperatures of at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes.

11 bars locks on treatment-room doors, requires the entrance to stay unlocked during business hours, and flatly prohibits touching a patron's sexual or genital area. 14 gives the operator 15 days to file a written petition for a hearing before that suspension becomes a permanent revocation.