Salt Lake County, UT Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- License required
- Sexually oriented business regulatory license before opening
- Governing section
- Salt Lake County Code §5.20.070
- Zoning first
- Site must be zoned for the use under Title 19
- Civil penalty
- $500 per citation, §5.20.380
- Criminal penalty
- Class B misdemeanor; each day a separate offense
- Revocation term
- One year, no relicensing at that address
- Employee appeal window
- 15 days to county council after denial
Summary
Any sexually oriented business in unincorporated Salt Lake County, adult businesses, nude entertainment venues, outcall services, seminude dancing bars and nude/seminude dancing agencies, must hold a sexually oriented business regulatory license from the county before opening. Operating without one is unlawful under Salt Lake County Code §5.20.070, and the location must already be zoned for that use under Title 19 before the license application is even accepted.
It is unlawful for any person to operate a sexually oriented business, as defined herein, in the county without first obtaining a sexually oriented business regulatory license. The license shall specify the type of business for which it is obtained. The license shall be obtained pursuant to the general business license procedures outlined in Chapter 5.02. [...] In addition to revocation or suspension of a license as provided in this chapter, each violation of this chapter shall, upon citation by the county, require the sexually oriented business licensee or sexually oriented business employee, as applicable, to pay a civil penalty in the amount of five hundred dollars, which shall be in addition to any other administrative sanctions or criminal penalties. B. In addition to the civil fines provided in this chapter, the violation of any provision of this chapter shall be a Class B misdemeanor. C. Each day of a violation shall be considered a separate offense.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 49).
Full Breakdown
The license is issued under Salt Lake County Code §5.20.070, which requires anyone operating a sexually oriented business in the unincorporated county to obtain a sexually oriented business regulatory license before opening, following the general business license procedure in Chapter 5.02. Before the county will even accept that application, §5.20.060 requires the site to already sit in a zone that allows sexually oriented businesses under Title 19, and any conditional use approval the zoning requires must be secured first. Applicants pay a regulatory license fee to the local law enforcement agency, set by the county council's consolidated fee schedule (§5.20.130).
The license covers one specific premises and business name: operating under a different name, or forwarding calls to an unlicensed second location, is itself unlawful under §5.20.140. Employees need a separate employee license, and the local law enforcement agency can deny one for an applicant under eighteen, for material false statements, for a chapter conviction within the prior two years, or for a felony, moral-turpitude offense, or a listed sex offense (prostitution, indecent exposure, sexual assault, child pornography and more) within the prior five years; a denial can be appealed to the county council within fifteen days (§5.20.150).
The chapter exempts state-licensed sex therapists, medical practitioners, nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists and classroom educators from the license requirement (§5.20.080). Operating without a valid license exposes the business to an injunction in addition to civil and criminal penalties (§5.20.350).
Violations & Fines
A citation for operating without the required license, or for any other chapter violation, carries a $500 civil penalty per §5.20.380, on top of any license suspension or revocation. The same conduct is also a Class B misdemeanor, and each day of continued violation counts as a separate offense. Suspension halts all operations at the location for its duration; revocation bars a sexually oriented license there for one full year, appealable to the county council under §5.20.360.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a strip club in unincorporated Salt Lake County need a special license?
What happens if a sexually oriented business operates without a license?
Who is exempt from the sexually oriented business license?
Can an employee license be denied, and can that be appealed?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Salt Lake County
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