Peoria County, IL Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Chapter 6, Article IV of the Peoria County Code, adopted in 2003 after the county board found evidence of secondary effects like crime, disease transmission and property devaluation around unregulated adult uses, licenses six classifications of sexually oriented business: adult bookstores/novelty/video stores, adult cabarets, adult motels, adult motion picture theaters, adult theaters, and semi-nude model studios (§ 6-123). Section 6-124 makes it unlawful to operate any of these without a sexually oriented business license, and separately unlawful for any employee to work there without a sexually oriented business employee license; business applications go to the county's planning and zoning office while employee applications go to the Peoria County Sheriff.

The director of planning and zoning must act within 40 days of a complete application, issuing a temporary license immediately while the file is reviewed (§ 6-125), and can deny a license for an underage applicant, false or incomplete information, unpaid fees, a prior violation of specific sections within the last year, or a premises that fails the article's interior configuration rules. Section 6-126 sets the annual license and renewal fee at $200 for the business and $100 for each employee. on any day. Licenses last one year and are non-transferable to another person or location (§§ 6-128, 6-132).

The county can suspend a business license for up to 30 days for a knowing violation (§ 6-129) and can move to revoke it for false application information, knowingly allowing drug possession or sale, prostitution, operating during a suspension, or allowing specified sexual activity on the premises, with revocation lasting one year and a hearing officer process that includes the right to counsel and cross-examination (§§ 6-130, 6-131). Premises with private viewing rooms under 150 square feet face additional interior rules under § 6-134, including a minimum one-footcandle lighting standard, a ban on more than one patron per viewing booth, and unobstructed sightlines from a staffed manager's station.