Lyon County, NV Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Lyon County Code section 5.08.03(A) bars anyone from commencing operation of an adult characterized business without first applying for and receiving a license, and subsection (E) requires disclosure of every owner or shareholder with a 5% or greater interest, each of whom must be over 21 and disclose prior license denials or revocations, prior ownership of an adult business or brothel, and any felony or qualifying misdemeanor conviction within the past ten years. Subsection (F)(1)(h) declares unsuitable, and therefore ineligible for a license, any proposed business located within three thousand feet (3,000') of any church, school, playground, residential areas, or any property zoned XX Adult Use District.

The Sheriff's suitability review also disqualifies applicants convicted of listed crimes, under 21, linked to organized crime, or who misled investigators, and may require fingerprints submitted to the FBI. Section 5.08.04 layers structural restrictions on any building housing such a business: no adult imagery visible from the exterior or an arterial, opaque window coverings, a permanent entry barrier blocking sightlines, doors that stay unlocked while open to the public, sound-absorbing interior material, no exterior speakers, separate restrooms by sex, and no portable structures. Section 5.08.05 exempts a bookstore whose adult material occupies no more than 7% of retail floor area or 200 square feet, whichever is less, if it is segregated, signed against minors and unadvertised. Section 5.08.06 requires every worker to hold a Sheriff-issued work card, denied or revoked for larceny, prostitution or lewd-conduct convictions among other grounds.