Kennewick, WA Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Chapter 6.35 of the Kennewick Municipal Code defines an adult concession as any adult bookstore, adult mini-theater, adult motion picture theater, adult panorama establishment, adult retail store, adult hotel or motel, or live adult entertainment establishment. Section 6.35.020 makes every adult concession a Class II license, and section 6.35.040 requires three separate licenses: one for the operator, one for each entertainer, and one for each manager. The annual fee for each license is set by the City Council in the Kennewick Master Fee Schedule rather than in the chapter itself, and a nonrefundable application fee is due when the operator files.

The operator application must be signed under penalty of perjury by someone at least 18 years old. It requires names, aliases, addresses and any Social Security number for the operator and every operator control person, five years of criminal convictions, three years of employment history, two 2-inch by 2-inch full-face color photographs taken within six months, fingerprints taken by Kennewick Police Department employees, and a scale drawing of the premises. The license officer sends the file to the Health Department, Fire Department, Police Department and Building Inspector, and each reports within 30 days. No license issues unless every department reports compliance, and the license must be issued or denied within 30 days of a complete application, with at most 20 more days of extension. Anyone who acquires a significant management interest after issuance must notify the license officer in writing within 21 days.

Entertainers and managers apply separately, must be at least 18, and must show two accepted forms of identification. Their licenses are decided within 14 days, and an entertainer receives a temporary license that expires on day 14 unless the city has not yet decided.

The operating rules in section 6.35.060 require at least one footcandle of lighting at floor level wherever patrons can go, nothing visible from outside the building, no sexual conduct, and a nightly closing window from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. on weekdays and Saturdays and from 2:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on Sundays. Adult motels are the only exception to the closing window. Mini-theaters and motion picture theaters are the only venues excused from keeping the lights on during a show. Live entertainment venues must also use a stage at least 18 inches high, kept at least eight feet from patrons, with a railing at least three feet high (section 6.35.100), and a licensed manager must be on the premises whenever the business is open (section 6.35.090).