Scottsdale, AZ Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- License required for
- Business, manager, and provider
- Business license fee
- $500 initial and annual
- Adult service provider fee
- $100 initial/renewal
- Decision deadline
- 45 days (business license)
- Prohibited hours
- 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
- Max enterprise fine
- $20,000
Summary
Scottsdale requires a sexually oriented business license before conducting an adult service, adult video, or cabaret operation, plus separate manager and adult service provider permits. Applicants submit to fingerprinting and a criminal history check, and violations carry fines up to twenty thousand dollars for an enterprise.
A person or enterprise may not conduct a sexually oriented business without first obtaining a sexually oriented business license pursuant to this article. The license shall state the name of the license holder, the name, address and phone number of the licensed premises, and the dates of issuance and expiration of the license. A sexually oriented business for which a license has been issued pursuant to this article may conduct business only under the name or designation specified in the license.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 80).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 16-239 bars operating a sexually oriented business without a license naming the license holder, the licensed premises, and issuance and expiration dates; the business may run only under the licensed name and only at the licensed address, with a separate license required for each additional location. Sec. titles. Sec. 16-241 and Sec. 16-242 require a separate sexually oriented business manager permit and adult service provider permit, using an abbreviated version of the same application. Sec. 16-244 gives the director forty-five days to grant or deny a business license (deemed granted if the deadline is missed) and requires denial where the application is incomplete, misrepresents facts, is not zoning-compliant, the applicant is under eighteen, or has a qualifying conviction in the past three years or a revoked license in the past two years.
Sec. , managers must staff a station with an unobstructed sight line at all times services are provided, and patrons may not place money on a nude provider's body or costume. The council's legislative findings behind the article cite prostitution, drug dealing, disease transmission, and organized crime as the secondary effects the licensing scheme is meant to control (Sec. 16-236).
Violations & Fines
Sec. 16-257 makes any violation of the article a class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to $2,500 and up to six months in jail, with each day of a continuing violation a separate offense; an enterprise licensee faces a fine of up to $20,000. Operating without a valid license is additionally declared a public nuisance abatable by injunction. Sec. 16-250 requires a ten-day license or permit suspension on any conviction under the article, and Sec. 16-251 requires revocation after three convictions in a twelve-month period or a conviction for one of the enumerated disqualifying offenses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Scottsdale require workers, not just the business, to get licensed?
How close can a patron get to a performer in a Scottsdale adult service business?
What is the penalty for running an unlicensed sexually oriented business in Scottsdale?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Scottsdale
Compare Scottsdale to another location·View the Arizona business licensing & operations overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.
Adult Entertainment in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Maricopa County handle adult entertainment.