Massage | Nevada | Licensing updates
Nevada Board Adopts Six-Hour Massage CE Rule—but It Is Not Effective Yet
Nevada's Massage Therapy Board adopted R137-26 after its September 4 hearing, but the permanent regulation still needs Legislative Commission approval and…
- Continue using the current 24-hour massage/structural-integration or 12-hour reflexology CE requirement until the regulation becomes effective.
- Watch the Nevada register for an R137-26AP approval and final filing or effective date.
- Out-of-state applicants with programs under 600 hours should prepare for the adopted equivalency threshold but ask the Board which rule applies on their filing date.
- Establishment owners should prepare for the adopted discipline, fee, and advertising provisions without treating them as current law.
Published: 2026-08-31 · Reviewed: 2026-09-15
Official context
Nevada's 2026 regulation register added an adopted regulation and informational statement for LCB File R137-26 on September 11, 2026. The Board held the public hearing on September 4, 2026 and adopted the regulation with two technical changes: correcting 'remand' to 'reprimand' in section 4 and restoring two paragraphs in section 7. The adopted text reduces biennial continuing education for massage therapists, reflexologists, and structural integration practitioners to 6 hours, uses renewal attestations and random audits, and removes carryover language. It is not effective yet. Nevada law requires a permanent regulation adopted by an agency to be reviewed by the Legislative Commission; it becomes effective when the approved regulation is filed with the Secretary of State unless a later date is specified. The register currently shows R137-26A, not an approved R137-26AP filing, and the Board FAQ still lists the current 24-hour massage/structural-integration and 12-hour reflexology requirements.
What this means
The adopted regulation is broader than CE. It raises the program-hour reference used in substantial-equivalency review from 550 to 600 hours, establishes requirements and supervisor responsibility for 90-day temporary licenses, replaces the $250 temporary-license issuance fee with a $150 combined application-and-issuance fee, revises establishment certificate fees and application material, expands establishment discipline grounds and sanctions, allows probation to restrict mobile massage, and changes the criminal-history petition process. The September 11 filing confirms agency adoption, but none of these amendments should be represented as enforceable until Nevada posts Legislative Commission approval and the final effective filing.
Official sources
- https://www.leg.state.nv.us/register/indexes/2026_NAC_REGISTER_NUMERICAL.htm
- https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Register/2026Register/R137-26A.pdf
- https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Register/2026Register/R137-26NI.pdf
- https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-233b.html
- https://www.massagetherapy.nv.gov/about-us/regulations/
- https://www.massagetherapy.nv.gov/meetings/
- https://www.massagetherapy.nv.gov/licensees/licensee-faqs/
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.