| Summary |
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
fingerprint-based criminal history record check
(background check);
•
Replaces the current discretionary local regulatory
authority with a requirement that every county, city and
county, and municipality (local government) that has a
massage facility within its jurisdictional boundaries 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;
•
Requires such a resolution or ordinance 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; and
•
Every prospective operator, owner, or employee to
submit to a background check before being granted
a license to operate the massage facility, becoming
an owner of a massage facility, or being employed
by a massage facility;
•
Requires such a resolution or ordinance to also:
•
Prohibit 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; 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
•
Authorize a local licensing authority 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 a resolution
or ordinance 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.
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