Columbus, IN Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Section 9.30.030(A) provides that no person shall conduct, maintain or operate any sexually oriented business within the corporate limits of the city without first being licensed under the chapter. The Columbus Board of Public Works and Safety, or its designee, grants, denies, revokes, renews, suspends and cancels permits. The Columbus police department supplies information on whether an applicant has been convicted of a specified criminal act, and the city's code enforcement department inspects proposed, permitted and nonpermitted businesses.

An applicant files a sworn application, an original and two copies. Required attachments include a sketch of the premises drawn to an accuracy of plus or minus six inches and a surveyor's drawing, prepared within thirty days before application, showing established uses, religious institutions, schools, public parks and residentially zoned property within one thousand feet. Each individual with a ten percent or greater interest must sign. The nonrefundable application fee is one hundred dollars, and the applicant must obtain a certification from the Board that the location complies with the Columbus zoning ordinance. The separation distances themselves live in that zoning ordinance, which is a separate document not printed in this code.

The city clerk circulates the application, and each agency completes its investigation within twenty days (§ 9.30.040). The Board grants or denies within thirty days of proper filing (§ 9.30.050). Denial is mandatory on listed grounds, including an applicant under eighteen, overdue taxes or fines, a false answer on the form, or failed health, fire and building inspections. The annual fee is two hundred dollars, and the permit expires one year from issuance (§§ 9.30.060, 9.30.080). Permits cannot be transferred to another person or location (§ 9.30.120). Entertainers, escorts and massage parlor workers need an employee license costing twenty-five dollars (§ 9.30.130).

Operation is barred between ten p.m. and ten a.m. of any day (§ 9.30.170), and public nudity is prohibited (§ 9.30.180). Denial, suspension or revocation can be appealed to Bartholomew Superior or Circuit Court (§ 9.30.110).