Garland County, AR Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Garland County Code § 15-36 sets strict distance rules for sexually oriented businesses, defined by Sec. 15-32 to include adult cabarets, adult theaters, adult bookstores, adult video and novelty stores, adult arcades, nude model studios and sexual encounter centers, operating in the unincorporated county under Sec. 15-34. Sec. 15-36(a) makes it an offense to operate one within 2,000 feet of a church, synagogue, mosque or other building used primarily for religious worship; a public or private educational facility from day care through college; a public park or recreational area under governmental control; or a residence.

Sec. 15-36(b) separately bars locating one within one mile of another sexually oriented business. Measurement runs in a straight line from the nearest point of the business structure to the nearest property line of the protected use, ignoring any intervening buildings or city, county or other political boundary. A business already lawfully operating is grandfathered if one of these protected uses later moves in nearby; Sec. 15-36(d) says the subsequent arrival does not put the existing business in violation. Before opening, converting an existing business into one, adding a sexually oriented use to another business, or relocating, Sec.

15-35 requires the owner to apply to the county judge's office with a $100 non-refundable permit and investigation fee. The county judge must issue the permit within ten business days unless the proposed location conflicts with Sec. 15-36, in which case the judge must notify the applicant of the conflict within that same ten-day window; an applicant can appeal a denial to the quorum court at its next regular monthly meeting, and the quorum court's decision is final.