SPRINGFIELD, IL – Several months after the county shut down three massage establishments considered parlors for refusal to issue the businesses a license, the Sangamon County Board tackled missing elements in the licensing process.
A resolution amending the Sangamon County Code regarding the regulation of massage establishments quietly passed without any objections in a unanimous vote at the July 14 Sangamon County Board meeting.
The changes revolve around Sangamon County Code Chapter 5.16 massage licensing, and offenses which can cause the denial or revoking of a license.
Based on the Springfield ordinance of 2024, expanding online oversight, business advertisement posts to social media or the internet will factor into the decision made by the Sangamon County Department of Public Health.
Sexual or explicit advertisements are specifically banned.
Sangamon County Public Health Director John Ridley said the changes were minor but would be imperative going forward prohibiting businesses with lewd intent in future applications.
“It was a misrepresentation of what the business should be,” Ridley said. “We discovered that when we were going through the massage business review there was some lewd advertising that was specific to the massage businesses in the county and that’s not what we want in the county. If we’re going to have a massage business in the county, we want them to be under all county governance that oversees massage parlors.”
This is the second time the licensing process has been updated, after being repealed and replaced in May of 2025.
The changes come after the Sangamon County Board public health committee called for the closure of all county massage parlors on Dec. 4 of last year and issued prohibited occupancy plaques to four businesses operating outside the city boundaries.
Three massage establishments applied after the county began requiring a license in May of 2025, but were all voted down at public health board committee save for county board member, Tim Krell, motioned in favor.
Day Spa, L Spa, 509 Massage and 5-Star Massage were the county massage parlors.
All four are considered closed.
Ridley said he and his team at the public health department will try to continue to monitor new advertisements made to websites online, but the methods and different sites used by businesses to attract clients using sex can be hard to find.
“We want to stay away from anything that would be inappropriate,” Ridley said. “That’s hard to answer, the way that it came up the last time, the websites that have these advertisements on them … checking for stuff like that is difficult.”
Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for The State Journal-Register. She can be reached at CLGrant@usatodayco.com; and on X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Sangamon County cracks down on lewd massage parlor ads
Reporting by Claire Grant, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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By Claire Grant, Springfield State Journal-Register | USA TODAY Network
