City to remove massage therapy stipulations in municipal code - Oil City News

[Tommy Culkin]

CASPER, Wyo. — After deliberation and feedback from several local professionals, the City of Casper will be repealing portions of the municipal code relating to massage therapists and massage parlors.

The Casper City Council agreed at its Tuesday work session to remove the permitting portions of the city’s code, while also advocating for the state to create a licensing board for massage therapists throughout Wyoming. It will also repeal the business license portion of the ordinance. Casper currently only

The current ordinance can be found under Chapter 8.04 of the Casper Municipal Code Regarding Businesses Affecting Public Health. It requires that massage therapists get a permit from the city, pass a background check and present documentation certifying the completion of a massage therapy school.

The initial hope for the ordinance was that it would help give traction to efforts to create statewide regulations on massage therapists. As that never came to pass, the city is acting as the licensing agency, which city staff say is a challenge.

“It’s not working as intended, and we don’t think it can work at the city level appropriately,” Casper Chief of Staff Fleur Tremel said. “We don’t have the expertise to do this here.”

The state currently uses licensing boards to evaluate the credentials for many other health-related professions and services, including tattoo artists, counselors, physical therapists, dietitians and much more. The full list of licensed professions in Wyoming can be found here.

City attorney Eric Nelson added that most states have a statewide licensing board for massage therapists, while Wyoming is just one of three in the nation without one.

The repeal of the ordinance will be voted on in a future City Council meeting, and will require multiple readings before it goes into effect.

Following the work session, the Casper City Council entered an executive session. More will be reported on this story as it becomes available.