Texas counties have very limited zoning power, so Dallas County does not run a sexually oriented business licensing program. Each Dallas County city, including Dallas, Irving, Garland, and Mesquite, regulates SOBs under municipal code and Texas Local Government Code Chapter 243 secondary-effects authority.
Texas Local Government Code Chapter 243 authorizes counties to regulate sexually oriented businesses only in unincorporated areas, and Dallas County has not adopted a comprehensive SOB ordinance. Almost the entire county sits inside an incorporated city, where the municipality enforces its own SOB code under Chapter 243 and Penal Code Chapter 43. Dallas regulates SOBs under City Code Chapter 41A with 1,000-foot buffers, employee permits, and stage rules; Irving, Garland, Mesquite, Richardson, Carrollton, and Grand Prairie maintain similar ordinances. Dallas County Sheriff enforces Penal Code obscenity and prostitution statutes countywide. The Dallas County District Attorney prosecutes SOB-related criminal cases such as compelling prostitution under Penal Code 43.05.
Operating an unlicensed SOB is enforced by the city in which the business sits. Penal Code 43 obscenity, prostitution, and compelling prostitution charges are filed by the Dallas County DA. Sheriff enforcement applies in unincorporated pockets only.
See how Grand Prairie's adult entertainment rules stack up against other locations.
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