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Wheat Ridge staff to draft massage‑business licensing changes to conform with new state fingerprinting rules
Summary
After state statutes established statewide standards and a fingerprinting requirement for massage‑business licensing, Wheat Ridge staff told council they will prepare code changes and coordinate CBI/FBI fingerprinting rollout; council gave direction to draft ordinance language and begin outreach.
City staff told the Wheat Ridge City Council on June 1 that two recent state laws impose standardized grounds for issuance, denial and revocation of massage‑business licenses and add a fingerprinting requirement for licensees.
City attorney‑level staff summarized the city’s existing 2020 licensing regime — which established local licensing, facility standards and renewal processes — and said much of the local program can remain, but the licensing article needs edits to align with the state’s new standards. The statutes cited in the staff memo were identified as House Bill 241371 and Senate Bill 25146.
Police staff described practical hurdles in meeting the state’s fingerprinting requirement. The department has been using Colorado public‑records checks and local fingerprinting for background checks, but federal FBI checks require specific ordinance language and coordination through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and an approved vendor. Staff said most current licensees already have state‑level fingerprints on file; moving forward the city expects to rely on an approved vendor to collect federal fingerprints and transmit them to CBI/FBI. “We’ve been doing what’s called a public records check ... now we don’t have access to their wrap sheet throughout the nation,” a police representative said, explaining the difference and investigative burden.
Council members asked whether the July 1 deadline for fingerprinting required immediate ordinance action; staff said outreach and informational notices can begin and that the city is likely to phase the federal fingerprint implementation after ordinance language is finalized and approved by CBI/FBI. Staff also confirmed massage licenses are annual and that renewal is routed through the treasurer and relevant departments; there is currently no limit on the number of massage licenses.
Next steps: Council signaled consensus to direct staff to draft ordinance language bringing Wheat Ridge’s licensing provisions into alignment with the state statutes and to implement a plan for fingerprint‑based background checks. Staff will return with a draft ordinance and a proposed rollout plan for federal fingerprinting.
