Business Licensing & Operations in Owensboro, KY (2026)
4 verified business licensing & operations rules for Owensboro, Kentucky, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Adult Entertainment
In the City of Owensboro, an adult entertainment establishment can locate only in a B-2, B-3, B-4, or B-5 zone, and only where the specific use is separately permitted there under the Zones and Uses Table. Appendix F Section 8.4, Note 47 also imposes a 500-foot buffer between adult entertainment establishments and between any such business and a residential zone, school, daycare center, church facility, or public park. The Owensboro Metropolitan Planning Commission's Zoning Administrator enforces the spacing rule.
Sexually Oriented Business Spacing in Owensboro
Significant RestrictionsOwensboro Zoning Ordinance, Appendix F § 8.4 (Note 47)
47.Particular uses that are classified under the assembly, business, or mercantile use groups in the Zones and Uses Table (Section 8.2 of this Zoning Ordinance) also may be deemed adult entertainment establishments ... such adult entertainment establishments shall be subject to the following requirements:a.No adult entertainment establishment shall be located in any zone other than B-2, B-3, B-...
Secondhand Dealers
Owensboro requires anyone buying, selling, or trading secondhand jewelry, coins, precious metals, or similar items to keep a daily police-department database register under Municipal Code Sec. 16-161. Every purchase needs the seller's ID, and each item bought must sit for five business days before resale, kept separate from other days' purchases, so police can inspect it. Violating the article is a Class A misdemeanor.
Owensboro Secondhand Dealer Licensing Rules
Some RestrictionsOwensboro Municipal Code § 16-161
(a)Every person dealing in the purchase, sale or exchange of secondhand or antique jewelry, coins, watches, diamonds or other precious stones, cutlery, old gold, silver, platinum or other precious metals, or any other secondhand manufactured articles, composed wholly or in part of gold, silver, platinum or other precious metals (hereinafter dealer) shall keep a daily register of all purchases o...
Pawnbrokers
Owensboro licenses pawnbrokers under Municipal Code Article VI. Every licensee must post a $1,000 bond approved by the Board of Commissioners, and pawnbrokers cannot accept a pledge from a minor or from anyone between 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Loans and purchases go into a police-department database by 11:00 a.m. daily, and interest is capped at 2 percent per month plus a one-fifth service fee.
Owensboro Pawnbroker Licensing Rules
Some RestrictionsOwensboro Municipal Code §§ 16-141, 16-142, 16-143
Any person (person includes any individual, business or other entity) who loans money on deposit of personal property, or who deals in the purchase of personal property on condition of selling the property back again at a stipulated price, or who makes a public display at his place of business of the sign generally used by pawnbrokers to denote their business, or who publicly exhibits a sign ad...
Towing Companies
The City of Owensboro's Wrecker Service Ordinance, Municipal Code Ch. 27 Art. II, has the police department run a rotational list of wrecker services for damaged, disabled, abandoned or illegally parked vehicles. A vehicle owner can pick a preferred wrecker, but when no preference is given the radio dispatcher must call the next wrecker on the rotation, not a company of its own choosing.
Owensboro Wrecker Service Rotation Rules
Significant RestrictionsOwensboro Municipal Code §§ 27-11, 27-15
This article shall henceforth be known as the "Wrecker Service Ordinance". The purpose of this article is to provide the city and the city police department personnel with a safe, efficient and equitable system for the removal of damaged, disabled, abandoned, or illegally parked motor vehicles from city streets. ... Where the motor vehicle operator is injured, unavailable, or otherwise indicate...
Looking for Daviess County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Owensboro city rules.
Business Licensing & Operations in Daviess County →