Business Licensing & Operations in Lexington, KY (2026)
5 verified business licensing & operations rules for Lexington, Kentucky, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Adult Entertainment
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government requires every adult cabaret, adult dancing establishment, or sexual entertainment center to hold an adult entertainment establishment license from the Department of Public Safety under Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-13.2, pay a $100 application fee plus a $600 annual fee, and close between 1:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. daily.
Lexington Adult Entertainment Establishment License
Significant RestrictionsLFUCG Code of Ordinances § 14-13.2
General requirements.No person shall own an adult entertainment establishment as defined in section 14-13 of the Code without an adult entertainment establishment license. No person shall operate an unlicensed adult entertainment establishment... Application and license fee.Concurrent with the submission of a license application, the applicant shall pay to the division of revenue a nonrefundabl...
Tobacco Retail License
Lexington-Fayette's indoor smoking ordinance carves out a narrow exception for dedicated vape shops: a 'retail electronic cigarette store' can let customers sample e-cigarettes indoors, but only if sales of anything besides electronic smoking devices and accessories stay under 25% of the store's total annual gross sales. Cross the threshold and the shop loses the exception and falls under the general indoor smoking ban.
Lexington Retail E-Cigarette Store Rule
Light RestrictionsCode of Ordinances §§ 14-97, 14-98
Retail electronic cigarette store. A retail store devoted primarily to the sale of any electronic smoking device, including but not limited to e-cigarettes, e-cigars, e-pipes, e-hookah, or vapor pen, or under any other product name or descriptor and accessories, and in which the sale of other products is incidental. The sale of other such products shall be incidental if the sales generate less ...
Secondhand Dealers
Secondhand, junk and used auto parts dealers in Lexington-Fayette must register every seller, hold purchased goods ten business days, and report daily to police. The $250 annual junk dealer license backs a strict no-buying-from-minors rule that ties into the same tracking system pawnbrokers use.
Lexington Secondhand & Junk Dealer License
Significant RestrictionsLexington-Fayette County Code of Ordinances § 13-54
Every person, including a pawnbroker as defined in section 13-52, conducting business where junk, used auto parts or secondhand goods, wares or merchandise, materials or electronic devises including video games, CD's, or DVD's are purchased, for money or store credit, from an individual in the urban county shall comply with all provisions of this section... No purchases or trades shall be made ...
Pawnbrokers
Pawnbrokers in Lexington-Fayette must hold a $250 annual special fee license, file a daily report with the Division of Police on every pledge taken, and take a thumbprint from each person who pawns goods. The urban county government also locks pawnshop business hours to curb stolen-property trafficking.
Lexington Pawnbroker License & Daily Reports
Significant RestrictionsLexington-Fayette County Code of Ordinances § 13-52
Each person whose business or occupation is to take and receive by way of pledge, pawn, or exchange any goods, wares, merchandise or any kind of personal property as security for payment of money loaned thereon shall be deemed a pawnbroker and shall make a daily report to the division of police on forms provided by the urban county government for such reports or on a computer disk if the pawnbr...
Towing Companies
Lexington-Fayette's private impound (non-consent) tow ordinance caps what a wrecker company can charge to release your car from a private lot. Storage is free for the first 24 hours, fees after that must be billed to the nearest half day, and total charges can't exceed the fee schedule the towing company filed with the Division of Revenue. Companies that overcharge or stonewall owners risk license suspension or revocation.
Lexington Non-Consent Tow Fee Limits
Significant RestrictionsCode of Ordinances § 14-90
A private impound tow truck service shall file a private impoundment fee schedule with the department. Fees charged for private impoundment may not exceed those filed with the department. At least ten (10) days before the effective date of any change in a tow truck service's fee schedule, the registered service shall file the revised fee schedule with the department. ... No fee shall be charged...