More Uniform Local Massage Facilities Regulation

Current law allows, but does not require, a county or a municipality to adopt a resolution or ordinance that either establishes business licensure requirements for massage facilities or regulates and prohibits unlawful activities to prevent the operation of illicit massage businesses that engage in human trafficking-related offenses. Section 1 of the bill:

• Makes a legislative finding and declaration that it is a matter of mixed statewide and local concern to establish a statewide requirement that a massage facility operator, owner, or employee, including an independent contractor who is involved in the routine operations of a massage facility (employee), submit to a state and national background check, which generally means a fingerprint-based criminal history record check (background check);
• Replaces the current discretionary local regulatory authority with a requirement that Requires every county, city and county, and municipality (local government) that has a massage facility within its jurisdictional boundaries to adopt a resolution or ordinance that designates a local licensing authority (licensing authority) to receive, review, and approve or deny an application for a license to operate a massage facility and investigate and determine the eligibility of a person to be an owner or employee of a massage facility based on information received from a local law enforcement agency that has coordinated with the Colorado bureau of investigation to process state and federal fingerprint criminal history record checks local process that ensures that the required background checks are conducted ;
• Requires such a resolution or ordinance local process to also require, as a condition for a person remaining as or becoming a massage facility operator, owner or employee that:
• Every current operator owner, and employee submit to a background check on or before the earlier of October 1, 2025, or any other date specified in the resolution or ordinance local process ; and
• Every prospective operator or owner or employee to submit to a background check at least 30 days before being granted a license to operate the massage facility becoming an owner of or assuming an ownership interest in a massage facility; or being employed by a massage facility;
• Requires such a resolution or ordinance to also:
• Prohibit Prohibits a person from being a massage facility owner or employee if the person either has not submitted to a required background check or has been convicted of or entered an accepted plea of nolo contendere for a felony or misdemeanor for prostitution, solicitation of a prostitute, a human trafficking offense, money laundering, or similar crimes who is registered as a sex offender or is required by law to register as a sex offender; or has a pending criminal action that involves or is related to these offenses or being required to register as a sex offender; and
• Prohibits a massage facility operator or owner from employing at a massage facility a person who has not submitted to a required background check;
• Authorizes an operator or owner to employ at a massage facility a person who has been convicted of or entered an accepted plea of nolo contendere for solicitation of a prostitute, a human trafficking offense, or money laundering, or who is registered as a sex offender or is required by law to register as a sex offender, if the operator or owner believes that the person does not pose a threat to customers or employees of the massage facility;
• Authorizes the local licensing authority for a local government that has established massage facility business licensure requirements to suspend or revoke the license of any massage facility that has an owner or an employee who is prohibited from being a massage facility owner or employee;
• Requires a county and a municipality within the county to consult with each other when developing, such as is still authorized but not required, a resolution or ordinance to establish business licensure requirements for massage facilities or regulate and prohibit unlawful activities to prevent the operation of illicit massage businesses that engage in human trafficking-related offenses, and, by mutual agreement between a county and a municipality within the county, allows a municipality to elect to have a county's resolution or ordinance apply to massage facilities operating within the jurisdictional boundaries of the municipality in lieu of adopting its own ordinance or resolution; and
• Because a massage therapist is required by current law to submit to a background check to obtain a license to practice massage therapy, exempts a licensed massage therapist from the bill's background check requirement.

Section 2 makes a conforming amendment.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)