Riverside County
Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Specialty Business Licensing
In short
Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Specialty Business Licensing issues 3 permits we publish for Riverside County, last verified 2026-09-27. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massage Technician Licenseonly if it applies to you | Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Specialty Business Licensing | $224 as codified (plus a DOJ fingerprint fee); renewal $120; late-renewal surcharge $50 | annual | 2026-09-27 |
| Massage Establishment Licenseonly if it applies to you | Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Specialty Business Licensing | $999 business license, current fee following the Board of Supervisors' 11/18/2025 vote; renewal, technician-license, and late-surcharge figures below remain at their as-codified amounts | annual | 2026-09-27 |
| Salon / Cosmetology Licensing — State Board License Applies (Riverside County)only if it applies to you | Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Specialty Business Licensing | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-27 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Massage Technician License
Each individual providing massage therapy in the unincorporated area needs a Sheriff's Department Massage Technician License, separate from the establishment's own license. As codified under Ordinance 596.2 this is $224 plus a DOJ fingerprint fee, with a $120 annual renewal and a $50 surcharge for late renewal. Coverage of the 11/18/2025 vote addressed only the business-license fee, so the amount shown is the as-codified Ordinance 596.2 figure; confirm the current technician fee with the Sheriff's Department. This license applies only in the unincorporated area.
Massage Establishment License
A fitness studio offering massage therapy in the unincorporated area needs a Sheriff's Department Massage Establishment License. Ordinance 596.2, as codified, prices this at $595 plus a DOJ fingerprint fee; the Board of Supervisors voted on 11/18/2025 to raise it to $999, effective roughly 30 days later, as part of a fee consolidation under new Ordinance No. 1003 that also raised the sex-oriented-business, fortune-teller, and bingo license fees. This $999 figure is confirmed through two independent local-news sources reporting the vote; Ordinance 1003's own text is not separately cited here, so treat this fee alongside a direct confirmation with the Sheriff's Department before relying on it for a large decision. The as-codified renewal fee ($316), the separate massage technician license ($224 plus fingerprint fee, $120 renewal), and the $50 late-renewal surcharge are published at their last-confirmed, as-codified amounts, since the news coverage of the 11/18/2025 vote addressed only the business-license fee. This license applies only in the unincorporated area — Ordinance 596.2's own text confirms that scope — and each incorporated city runs its own massage-licensing rules instead.
Salon / Cosmetology Licensing — State Board License Applies (Riverside County)
No fee applies at the county level. The County's Business Licenses and Permits page lists no salon license among its activity-specific county permits; salon and cosmetology licensing is a California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology function, recorded at the state layer. Per the county's environmental-health, fire and planning fee ordinances, there is no salon-specific county license or fee line item. A salon offering massage services beyond a licensed cosmetologist's scope of practice would separately need the Sheriff's Department massage establishment and technician licenses (recorded above) if located in the unincorporated area. Ordinary Building & Safety and, if applicable, hazardous-waste/CUPA requirements apply to a salon's premises as they would to any commercial space.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Riverside County
- Phone
- Not verified — use the website
- Website
- www.riversidesheriff.org/
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Business Licenses and Permits — states county licensing is department-specific, not a general license; refers general licensing questions to the state CDTFACounty of Riverside · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
- News coverage of the 11/18/2025 Board of Supervisors vote raising the massage business licence fee from $595 to $999 under new Ordinance No. 1003The Press-Enterprise · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
- Riverside County Ordinance No. 596.2 — massage establishment and technician licensing, confirmed scoped to 'the unincorporated area of the County'; as-codified fees ($595 business licence, $224 technician licence)Riverside County Clerk of the Board · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
Other offices serving Riverside County
- Riverside University Health System – Dept. of Environmental Health
- Riverside County Fire Department, Office of the County Fire Marshal (operated under contract with CAL FIRE)
- Riverside County Planning Department (TLMA)
- Riverside County Building & Safety Dept. (TLMA)
- Riverside County Transportation Dept. / Stormwater Compliance Program (TLMA)
- Riverside County Dept. of Animal Services
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
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Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.