Massage | Minnesota | Licensing updates
Minnesota Opens Massage Rulemaking: Comments Due October 16
Minnesota MDH is accepting comments and advisory-committee applications through October 16, 2026 while it drafts ethics and conduct rules for the 2028 state…
- Submit comments on ethics, conduct, or implementation through the official state process by October 16, 2026 at 4:00 p.m.
- Practitioners, instructors, clients, and municipal representatives interested in the rulemaking committee should submit the separate interest form by the same deadline.
- Distinguish the temporary rulemaking advisory committee from the statutory Advisory Council.
- Schools should continue mapping programs to the future education and student-clinical-practice framework while recognizing that implementation rules are still being drafted.
Published: 2026-08-25 · Reviewed: 2026-08-31
Official context
Minnesota Chapter 115, H.F. 3825, established an optional state registry for massage therapists and Asian bodywork therapists beginning January 1, 2028. Minnesota MDH published its Request for Comments for rulemaking R-5020 on August 17, 2026. Comments on the code of ethics and standards of conduct, along with applications for the approximately 15-member rulemaking advisory committee, are due October 16, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. MDH specifically seeks practitioners, instructors, clients, and municipalities that currently license massage therapists.
What this means
MDH expects the committee to meet from fall 2026 through spring 2027 while the agency drafts proposed rules and a Statement of Need and Reasonableness; it currently anticipates a Notice of Intent to Adopt Rules in December 2027. The rulemaking committee is separate from the statutory Advisory Council. The enacted baseline still matters: protected RMT and RABT titles begin in 2028, qualifying registration includes education, an approved national credentialing exam, background checking, insurance, an application, and fees, and later school pathways include significant program and clinical-practice standards. Schools and instructors can influence the implementation details now rather than waiting for final rules.
Official sources
- https://www.health.state.mn.us/facilities/providers/massagetherapy/rulemaking.html
- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2026/0/Session+Law/Chapter/115/
- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/94/2026/0/HF/3825/
Licensing & Industry Updates is an educational summary of official public communications. It is not legal advice, and filing decisions should be checked against the current board page or rule text.