Jefferson County, MO Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

1780 permits sexually oriented businesses only in the planned industrial district ("PI") and only if the business does not operate within 1,000 feet of a church, synagogue, mosque, temple or other building used primarily for religious worship; a public or private educational facility including licensed day care centers, schools, junior colleges and universities; a public park or recreational area such as a playground, athletic field or swimming pool; the property line of a residentially zoned lot in "RA-5", "LR-2", "R-40", "R-20", "R-10", "PR-1" or "PR-2" being used residentially; another sexually oriented business; or any establishment offering alcoholic beverages for on-premise consumption.

Distances are measured in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures, from the nearest wall of the business to the nearest boundary of the protected use. 1850(A). 1790 further limits signage to one primary sign, capped at 75 square feet and 10 feet in height or length, and one secondary sign capped at 20 square feet, and bars photographs, silhouettes or pictorial representations on any sign; a signage violation is a misdemeanor. 1790 allows, and requires exterior walls to be a single achromatic color unless the business is part of a multi-unit commercial center painted uniformly; this is also a misdemeanor.

, a misdemeanor. 1820 bars anyone under 18 from the premises while open and requires a trained attendant at every public entrance to verify age by driver's license or state ID, also a misdemeanor. 1850, the Director assesses point totals against a business's operating permit for specific violations (from improper attire distances to prostitution solicitation and drug activity), which trigger escalating suspensions.