Tangipahoa Parish, LA Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

Tangipahoa Parish folds unlicensed massage businesses into its sexually oriented business licensing article, Article X of Chapter 26. Code Section 26-328 defines a massage center as a commercial business that is not licensed by the state as a massage business and that allows its employees, for compensation, to manipulate soft tissue including effleurage, petrissage, tapotement, compression, vibration, friction, shiatsu and acupressure, by hand, forearm, elbow, foot or mechanical appliance. A massagist is defined the same way, as an individual who is not state-licensed as a massage therapist but performs the same compensated soft-tissue work.

00 annual license fee. Because the definition expressly excludes anyone already licensed by the state as a massage business or therapist, a state-licensed therapeutic massage practice sits outside this article; it is the unlicensed compensated soft-tissue businesses that trigger the parish's sexually oriented business license, background screening, fingerprinting and the 1,000-foot buffer from churches, schools, libraries, playgrounds and residential areas set in Section 26-348. Operators and employees must apply in person with the sheriff, and the license must be renewed annually.