Louisville Metro Chapter 133 regulates adult entertainment businesses, requiring a license, distance buffers from schools, churches, parks, and residential zones, plus background-checked operators and dancers.
Under Louisville Metro Code Chapter 133, adult bookstores, cabarets, and theaters must obtain an adult-entertainment license through Codes & Regulations. Locations must maintain at least 1,000 feet from schools, churches, parks, daycare centers, and residential zones. Operators, managers, and performers undergo criminal background checks. Open-booth viewing rooms, full-nudity contact, and alcohol sales (without separate ABC license) are restricted. Annual inspections enforce signage, lighting, and minor-exclusion rules. Louisville's framework survived First Amendment challenges by tying restrictions to secondary effects.
Operating without a license, sub-1000-foot siting violations, employing unlicensed performers, or permitting unlawful contact triggers fines up to $500 per day, license revocation, and possible Class A misdemeanor charges.
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