Los Angeles County massage parlors could get annual health and safety inspections if the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agrees to craft an ordinance that also would call for operators to pay additional permit fees.

State law doesn’t require routine health and safety inspections of businesses that provide massage therapy, a fact that concerned Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn during a Board meeting in June. Such protocols can be established by each city and county across California. In Los Angeles County, inspections are conducted only by request from the tax collector’s office so that businesses in unincorporated areas can receive a license to operate. While the county’s Department of Public Health does offer inspections to its more than 80 municipalities, only two cities — Bell and City of Commerce — have agreed to contracts.

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Hahn said more inspections should take place, to stem human trafficking. She and Supervisor Hilda Solis co-wrote a motion that asks county departments to jointly craft an ordinance that looks at annual inspections as well as permit fees to pay for those inspections in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Cities within the county may also have the option to contract with the county. The motion is expected to be discussed and voted on during Tuesday’s board meeting.

“Placing massage parlors under annual inspection for compliance with health and safety requirements protects the public’s health and also reduces opportunities for illegal activities, such as human trafficking,” Hahn and Solis wrote in their motion.

In September, three women were arrested from three different massage businesses in Santa Clarita on suspicion of prostitution following a sting operation carried out by undercover detectives.

The raids were carried out by the Department’s Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Taskforce, as well as the Santa Clarita code enforcers and investigators from the California Employment Development Department.

Also in September, the Pico Rivera City Council approved a 45-day moratorium prohibiting the establishment, relocation and/or expansion of massage businesses in the city after several social media posts indicated illegal activities at an establishment on Rosemead Boulevard. Members of the Sheriff’s Human Trafficking Bureau arrested an one employee on suspicion of solicitation following an undercover investigation, according to the sheriff’s department.

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Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County public health director, said inspectors are currently undergoing training on how to spot victims of human trafficking in hotels and other businesses.

But annual health and safety inspections of such establishments may not stop the illicit activity from continuing, warned Jeannie Martin, president of the California chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association.

“It’s not a bad idea to make sure the establishment is clean and hygienic, ” Martin said, “but I don’t know if (inspections) are going to solve the problem (of human trafficking).”

Martin said such illegal activity is likely best spotted when community residents note unusual hours of operation at the establishments and other “red flags.”

The association, which has 5,700 members statewide, would not be opposed to being regulated in the same way as those who operate chiropractic or acupuncture establishments, Martin said.

Many massage therapists are voluntarily certified through the California Massage Therapy Council, a consumer advocacy group. Many cities and counties have opted to require such certification rather than pass ordinances or try to police the businesses themselves, Martin noted.

“One concern we would have is if the fee was excessive,” Martin said, if Los Angeles County were to move forward on requiring health and safety inspections. She said such a law may end up hurting law abiding therapists.

“Who are going to be hurt are the sole proprietors or sole renters,” she added.

If approved on Tuesday, the motion calls for an ordinance to be presented to the Board for consideration within 180 days.