Massaging the Law: City Council Updates Massage Therapy Ordinance

The City of Burnsville is taking a proactive approach to rooting out prostitution: On July 19, the city council agreed to beef up city codes to prevent prostitutes from moving in under the guise of massage therapy.

The city decided to strengthen the ordinance following a string of arrests in Apple Valley. In February, a Minneapolis man was sentenced Monday to 11 years in prison for inappropriately touching multiple female customers at an Apple Valley massage business. According to the criminal complaint, six separate women told police they were fondled on his massage table.

More recently, the owners of an Apple Valley business called were charged with multiple counts of prostitution and keeping a disorderly house after investigators found evidence that workers there were offering sexual services to their clientele.

The City of Apple Valley responded by massage businesses. 

There have been no such arrests in Burnsville, Capt. Eric Werner said, though two businesses were investigated based on similar allegations. Ultimately, no charges were filed.

Nevertheless, at the last meeting of the city council, Burnsville decided to follow the City of Apple Valley’s example.

Burnsville’s raised the bar in two main ways: By weeding out the criminal elements before they set up shop and by requiring massage therapists to have more formal training. The hope is that together regulations will keep the local industry safe and credible.

“In regards to massage therapy in general, there has been a historical connection with prostitution,” Werner said. “We started this by reaching out to businesses and understanding what their profession is about. This ordinance is meant to legitimize the field and reduce the potential for prostitution and other illegal activities. We found that if you emphasize professional standards the likelihood of those instances is greatly reduced or eliminated.”

In the past, only the license holder — presumably the business owner — had to submit to a criminal background check and provide proof of training. Now, these requirements apply to all of their employees and contractors as well.

“We’re looking at all employees now — strengthening background requirements looking for people with prior felonies, predatory offenders and crimes relating to alternative health care practices,” said Sgt. Bentley Jackson.

To make sure all 37 existing massage establishments are in compliance, the Burnsville Police Department has asked business owners to provide a complete list of employees and contractors. If the employees of grandfathered companies have sufficient training, the BPD will skip the background check.

Business-owners will also be penalized if they knowingly employ a therapist with a history of prostitution or sex-related convictions. Previously, a business could lose its license only if it was determined that the license holder had been convicted of sex-related crimes.

Werner said that the BPD would only pursue this course after a thorough investigation into what occurred.

“If you have a business employing several people and determine that someone has violated the ordinance we’ll take into account how you dealt with it  and make a decision at this point,” Werner said. “Burnsville is a business-friendly community. We’d try to resolve it first.”

Business owners who have lost their license — in Burnsville or a neighboring city — will not be able to obtain a license at all.

On the educational side, the city also increased the number of required training hours from 100 to 500.

“Don’t get me wrong. I agree with this ordinance change. It is really needed but 500 seems like an awful lot,” said Council Member Mary Sherry. “How is that you determined that number?”

Jackson told the council that such requirements are typical of the industry. In fact, Werner added, most local business owners “overwhelmingly” supported such measures.

The training must come through accredited institutions, specifically those approved by specific trade groups or regulatory bodies. Therapists will have to submit copies of their certificate or academic records. The BPD will also call the institution and verify the therapist’s credentials.

The measure found enthusiastic support at city hall. Changes to the ordinance passed unanimously.

“I’ve spoken to businesses who have been here for 20 years and they are happy about this,” said mayor Elizabeth Kautz. “This legitimizes their industry.”

Karen Hielsberg, owner of Burnsville Shiatsu Center, was inclined to agree.  In the years since her business started up in 1995, the massage local industry has expanded by leaps and bounds. At the time, there were only two other massage therapy businesses in town — Keep In Touch and Sister Rosalind’s.

“It was very different when we started. It was a lot smaller,” Hielsberg said.

Hielsberg said that seedier elements had not had much of an impact on her business, which uses a Japanese technique that requires clothes to remain on. However, Burnsville Shiatsu Center does get questionable phone calls from time to time.

“If someone calls in, especially if it’s a man, and it’s not a referral from someone in particular we’re wary. We don’t get very many phone calls like that, but every once in a while you might get a phone call at midnight on a Saturday. Or they’ll ask if you do ‘out-call,’” Hielsberg said. “It doesn’t happen very often.”

Nevertheless, the issue has created a stir within the industry, which could ask the legislature to institute a statewide registration system during the next session. A statewide standard would introduce uniformity and be helpful to massage therapists who practice in more than one city, who often have to pay multiple fees to municipal governments.

“In the state of Minnesota there is no licensing requirement and there’s a big debate in the massage world about do we want to get state licensing or don’t we? A lot of massage therapists like me got into it because they wanted freedom they’re kind of hippie and they don’t want regulation,” Hielsberg said. “It’s a balance of legitimacy versus not wanting people to tell you what to do.”