Sec 32-4260. Advertising requirements; civil penalty; definitions

A. A massage therapist or massage therapy business shall not advertise massage therapy services unless the advertisement includes either:

1. The massage therapy license number of the massage therapist if the advertisement is for the services of a specific massage therapist.

2. The business license number of at least one business license held by the massage therapy business if the advertisement does not offer the services of a specific massage therapist.

B. A massage therapist or massage therapy business shall retain on file, for at least one year, proof of the age of any massage therapist whose services are offered in any advertisement of massage therapy services.

C. A massage therapist or massage therapy business that violates this section is subject to a civil penalty of:

1. Five hundred dollars for a first violation.

2. One thousand five hundred dollars for a second violation.

3. Five thousand dollars for a third or subsequent violation.

D. The attorney general, county attorney or city or town attorney may bring an action to enforce this section.

E. The court shall deposit any civil penalties collected pursuant to subsection C of this section into the human trafficking victims assistance fund established by section 41-114.

F. It is an affirmative defense in a civil action for a violation of subsection A of this section that the massage therapist or massage therapy business possessed a valid license at the time the advertisement was published.

G. It is an affirmative defense in a civil action for a violation of subsection B of this section that the massage therapist whose services were offered in an advertisement for massage therapy services was eighteen years of age or older at the time the advertisement was published.

H. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Advertisement" means any message in any medium that offers or solicits any person to retain the services of the massage therapist or massage therapy business depicted in the advertisement.

2. "Massage therapy business" means a person or business association that furnishes, offers to furnish or advertises the furnishing of massage therapists as one of its primary business purposes for any fee, tip or other consideration.