Agenda - Planning Commission - 02/04/1997

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Page 2 -- January 1997 Z.B. Adult Entertainment -- County bans nude entertainment near bars Dodger's Bar th Grill Inc. v. Johnson Cotmty Board of Comity Commissioners, 98 E3d 1262 (Kansas) 1996 In 1992, the Board of County Commissioners of Johnson County, Kan., decided to regulate adult entertainment in places licensed to serve alcohol. The board passed a series of resolutions that applied to the operators of businesses that served alcohol or beer for on-premise consumption. One resolution prohibited anyone from displaying the female breast or engaging in a range of sexual conduct, and made it illegal for the operator of a licensed establishment to allow such entertainment. Another resolution stated, "nor shall any person" let the banned entertainment occur "in any room, building, premises or place within 1,000 feet of a [place that serves alcohol or beer]." The Bonita Flats Saloon was in a rural area next toga grain mill, railroad tracks and three homes. The remaining area was pasture, with the nearest neighbor about a mile away. The saloon's owners and 38 of its entertainers sued the board under federal civil rights laws. They asked the court to declare unconstitutional the restrictions on nude entertainment. The court upheld the resolution banning nude entertainment in bars, but did not decide whether the provision banning it in adjacent areas was constitutional. An appeals court upheld the lower court's ruling. The lower court later ruled the ban on entertainment in adjacent premises also was constitutional. The bar owners and dancers appealed, arguing the ban on entertainment in adjacent premises was unconstitutional, was overbroad and vague, and violated their equal protection rights. They also argued the 1,000-foot restriction was "too much." DECISION: Affirmed. The resolution banning nude entertainment in adjoining premises was constitutional. The purpose of the provision was to prohibit bar owners, entertainers or patrons from setting up a nearby trailer or other structure to engage in conduct prohibited inside the main, licensed premises. There was a reasonable relationship between the main premises and the area immediately adjacent to a place that served alcohol or beer. The restrictions were within the state's powers under the 21st Amendment (which repealed prohibition, leaving states the power to regulate alcoholic beverages) and the states' general police powers. The regulations were not overbroad or vague. The "any person" languat}e of the resolution limited it to operators, entertainers or patrons of licensed establishments. The regulations as a whole were directed at operators, entertainers and patrons of places that sold alcohol for on-premises consumption. The 1,000-foot restriction was not "too much," as the saloon was not in a densely populated urban area.