Manatee County, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

5 makes it unlawful to operate a sexually oriented business, defined to include adult bookstores, adult cabarets, adult motels, adult motion picture theaters, semi-nude model studios, sexual device shops, and sexual encounter centers, without a county license, and unlawful to work as an employee of one without a separate employee license (Sec. 5-4). Applicants file in person with the county administrator's office; the county must issue a temporary license within 24 hours of a complete filing and decide on a permanent license within 20 days (Sec.

5-5). A license must be denied to anyone under 18, anyone who has not paid the fee, or anyone convicted of a 'specified criminal activity,' a defined list covering sexual battery, prostitution offenses, obscenity, and controlled-substance trafficking, within the prior five years. Licenses run one calendar year and must be posted at the entrance (Sec. 5-8). m. (Sec. 5-13). Inside, a semi-nude employee must stay at least six feet from any patron on a stage at least 18 inches high in a room of at least 1,000 square feet, and selling or consuming alcohol on the premises is banned outright (Sec.

5-18). Operators must post no-loitering signs, keep parking lots lit and visible from the right-of-way, and check the lot every 90 minutes (Sec. 5-15). 5.