Paulding County, GA Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Chapter 10, Article II of the county code makes it unlawful to operate a sexually oriented business, defined to include adult bookstores, adult video stores, adult cabarets, adult motion picture theaters and sexual device shops, without a valid sexually oriented occupation tax certificate under Sec. 10-36, and unlawful for anyone to work at one without a sexually oriented business employee license unless already the certificate holder. Applications for the business certificate are filed in person at the business license office and applications for the employee license at the Paulding County Marshal's Bureau; each application requires proof of identity and age, disclosure of prior specified criminal convictions, and disclosure of whether any business the applicant had an influential interest in was ever declared a nuisance or padlocked by a court.

A representative must act within 30 days under Sec. 10-37, and can deny the certificate if the applicant is under 18, fails to pay the fee, or the location does not meet Sec. 10-50's distancing rules. Sec. 00 annual renewal. Sec. 10-50 sets three separate buffers, each measured in a straight line from the primary pedestrian entry of the applicant's structure without regard to intervening structures: 250 feet from another sexually oriented business, 500 feet from a church, school, government building, library, civic center, hospital, community club, prison or residence, and 500 feet from any business licensed to sell alcohol on premises. Licenses run one calendar year and renewal applications should be filed at least 60 days before expiration under Sec. 10-40.