Baltimore County, MD Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Baltimore County Code § 21-2-201 makes it unlawful to own or operate an adult entertainment business, defined in § 21-2-101 as an adult store or adult movie theater, without a license from the Department. The § 21-2-202 application demands the names and three-year residence histories of owners, officers, directors and stockholders holding 10% or more of the business, a full set of police fingerprints, a criminal history disclosure, and a $200 non-refundable application fee, plus a $450 annual license fee under § 21-2-203(d). The Department must act within 30 days or the application is deemed denied.

Under § 21-2-204, a license can be denied, suspended or revoked for violations, falsified applications, refused inspections, or a conviction involving moral turpitude, and § 21-2-205 requires immediate suspension if an inspector is denied entry. H. Zone under § 4B-102(A). Section 4B-102(B) bars locating within 1,000 feet of a house of worship, a public or private school, a public park or recreational facility, a public library, a licensed child care home or facility, or a residentially zoned or used lot, and within 2,500 feet of another adult entertainment, massage or tattoo/body-piercing business.

L. Zone under § 4B-102(C) still requires a 500-foot buffer from the same uses and requires that sexually oriented material not be visible from outside the store. Distances are measured in a straight line, without regard to intervening objects, from the closest point of the structure to the nearest property line of the protected use.