Casper to encourage state to create massage therapist licensing board through WAM - Oil City News

[Tommy Culkin]

CASPER, Wyo. — As part of the Casper City Council’s recent decision to remove ordinances concerning massage therapist licenses and associated business licenses, the city will also advocate for the Wyoming legislature to create a statewide licensing board.

According to Casper Chief of Staff Fleur Tremel, the city will do this by submitting a proposal through the Wyoming Association of Municipalities, potentially becoming a bill for the state to consider.

“There’s a way that you can submit topics for the legislature to consider if you have a sponsor,” Tremel said.

The city found a supporter for the proposal in Natrona County Rep. Elissa Campbell, who Tremel said recently submitted it for consideration.

Tremel said a determination is unlikely to come particularly soon, as it would be difficult to consider during the budget session. She said it will likely be brought back up in the next general session. However, she added that the decision of when to address the issue is ultimately up to the state.

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.

In a previous discussion with city staff, former Casper Police Chief Keith McPheeters said illegitimate operations had been able to get the licenses from the city.

“We have found that the persons we believe were the victims of trafficking were able to get licenses,” McPheeters said at the time. “The tools we had did not prevent that from happening.”

Tremel told Oil City News that removing the licensing ordinances shouldn’t impede law enforcement’s ability to stop trafficking.

“Trafficking is already illegal and a very serious crime,” she said. “We don’t need to have massage therapy licensing ordinances to affect trafficking.”

Ultimately, Tremel said, the hope is that removing the ordinances will make things easier for local massage therapists.

“As it is currently, the ordinance is a roadblock for them,” she said. “The city doesn’t want to be in the business of making things harder for people to conduct their business.”