Merced County, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Chapter 6.12 of the Merced County Code requires anyone operating an adult arcade, adult bookstore, adult cabaret, adult hotel/motel, adult theater, escort bureau, or modeling studio in the unincorporated county to first obtain and keep in force an adult entertainment business (AEB) regulatory permit from the Sheriff; performers, escorts, and figure models must separately hold their own performer, escort, or figure model permits (Section 6.12.030). AEBs may only be located in light manufacturing (M-1) or general manufacturing (M-2) zones, and may not sit within 1,000 feet of a park, church, school, another AEB, a residential zone, or a dwelling unit in the general agricultural (A-1) zone.

The Sheriff must act on a completed application within 30 days, and a permit is deemed granted if the Sheriff neither grants nor denies it in that window (Section 6.12.050). Permits run one year and are nontransferable without an approved amendment (Section 6.12.060). Operational standards in Section 6.12.080 require posted permits, a register of performers, opaque covering on exterior windows, one security guard per 10 parking spaces after 5 p.m., hours limited to 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. for businesses not separately regulated by ABC, a stage at least 24 inches high set back at least 10 feet from patrons, and a posted notice barring anyone under 18.

The Sheriff can deny, suspend, or revoke a permit for false statements, underage applicants, prostitution registration, or disqualifying convictions within the last five years (Section 6.12.070), with denials appealable to the Board of Supervisors and then to the courts under Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.5.