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

TCC 6.64.030 makes it unlawful to conduct, operate or maintain a massage parlor or public bathhouse unless the establishment, owner and operator all hold valid licenses. The business license and renewal fee is $300 a year, non-refundable (6.64.040); the employee license for masseurs, massage parlor attendants and public bathhouse attendants is $50 a year (6.64.090). Applications go to the county auditor and require identity verification, five years of address history, disclosure of prior arrests or convictions, photographs, and fingerprinting by the sheriff's office, which is forwarded to the FBI and the Washington State Bureau of Criminal Identification (6.64.050, 6.64.100).

The Thurston-Mason health district must separately inspect the facility and can flag health-code violations to the auditor (6.64.070). The auditor denies a license where an applicant shows a presumed lack of good moral character, defined as a felony conviction for sex offenses or a crime related to the business within the last ten years, or a related misdemeanor conviction while still on probation or parole (6.64.130); a denied applicant cannot reapply for six months, but can request a hearing before the Board of County Commissioners within ten days (6.64.140).

Licensed businesses must post their hours-of-service list, keep daily customer records for a year, admit no one under 18 as customer or employee, bar liquor and controlled substances except state-licensed liquor service, and close entirely between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. (6.64.150-6.64.180). TCC 6.64.190 separately makes it unlawful for any owner, employee or agent to touch or expose genitals on the premises, a ground for immediate license revocation.