Business Licensing & Operations in Louisiana (2026)

Ascension Parish keeps sexually oriented businesses at least 3,000 feet from homes, churches, schools, day cares…

Bossier City confines sexually oriented businesses to the B-3 General Business District and bans them within 1,000 feet…

Sexually oriented businesses in unincorporated Bossier Parish need an annual $500 nonrefundable permit from the Police…

Caddo Parish requires a permit from the parish administrator before anyone opens a sexually oriented business, and Sec…

Baton Rouge bars a retail alcohol dealer from hiring an "exotic dancer" who lacks a certificate of qualification issued…

Gretna requires a police-issued permit before operating an escort agency, nude model studio or sexual encounter center…

Jefferson Parish keeps adult uses at least 1,000 feet from any residential district or dwelling, from schools, day…

Any sexually oriented business in the City of Kenner needs a city license before opening, on top of complying with the…

Lafayette bans adult novelty stores, adult bookstores, and adult video stores from operating within 300 feet of any…

The City of Lafayette bans adult bookstores, novelty stores and video stores within 300 feet of schools, daycares…

Lake Charles confines sexually oriented businesses, adult bookstores, video stores and novelty shops, to…

New Orleans bars adult bookstores from operating within 2,000 feet of any church, school or playground under City Code…

In unincorporated Rapides Parish, a sexually oriented business cannot open within 2,000 feet of a park, library…

Operating a sexually oriented business in Shreveport without a license is unlawful under chapter 72. Owners apply in…

St. Tammany Parish keeps adult uses at least 1,000 feet from residential districts, dwellings, schools, churches…

Operating a sexually oriented business anywhere in Tangipahoa Parish without a license from the parish, issued through…

Terrebonne Parish confines sexually oriented businesses to C-2 General Commercial Districts within the zoned areas of…

In unincorporated Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, no sexually oriented business can be built or run without a Police Jury…

Every massage business in East Baton Rouge Parish must register with the building official before opening, pay an…

Gretna requires massage parlors and massage services to hold an occupational license or business permit, bars alcohol…

Every massage business, establishment or parlor in Jefferson Parish must hold a $50.00 massage establishment license…

Every Lake Charles massage establishment must register with the state Board of Massage Therapy, employ only…

New Orleans requires a City Council-authorized annual license from the Department of Health to operate any massage…

A commercial 'massage center' not licensed by the state, defined under Code Section 26-328 as a business whose…

Unincorporated St. Tammany Parish treats massage establishments as a regulated land use under the Unified Development…

Tattooing is flatly outlawed within the City of Gretna. Sec. 30-1 states in full that the practice of tattooing is…

A tattoo parlor cannot operate as a home business in unincorporated St. Tammany Parish. Sec. 600-6.2(4)(l)(ii) places…

New Orleans bans tattooing outright on Bourbon Street between St. Ann and Canal Streets, part of a Vieux Carré…

Jefferson Parish treats tattoo parlors and other body-art shops as a distinct, licensed land use, and the parish's…

In the City of Kenner, tattoo parlors are a recognized zoning use, defined and permitted by right in the General…

Shreveport's Unified Development Code treats tattoo parlors and piercing studios as a single 'Body Modification…

Caddo Parish's Unified Development Code lets tattoo and body-piercing shops open by right across its commercial and…

Louisiana requires vapor and alternative nicotine product retailers to obtain state permits, follow age verification…

Selling cigarettes, cigars, loose tobacco, or e-cigarette liquid anywhere in unincorporated Jefferson Parish requires…

New Orleans doesn't issue a dedicated tobacco retail license, but City Code §§ 66-75 and 66-77 tightly control where a…

Selling vapor products, e-cigarettes, vape juice or related devices in Shreveport requires a city permit from the…

East Baton Rouge Parish's Chapter 28 licensing rules bar new smoke and vape shops from locating within 500 feet of any…

In the City of Gretna, retailers, distributors and vending machine operators cannot sell tobacco, alternative nicotine…

Bossier Parish does not license tobacco or vape retailers separately; its only local control is zoning. 'Tobacco store'…

Sec. 86-63 requires every secondhand dealer operating in Bossier City to be licensed under applicable city, parish and…

Anyone buying, selling or trading used jewelry, tools, electronics, firearms or similar goods in East Baton Rouge…

Anyone doing business as a secondhand dealer in Gretna needs a license under Sec. 46-37, backed by a $2,500.00 bond and…

Lafayette requires anyone buying, selling or trading used property as a business to hold a secondhand dealer permit…

The City of Lafayette requires secondhand and junk dealers to hold an annual permit, backed by a $2,500 bond, before…

Anyone buying, selling, or trading used jewelry, firearms, tools, or similar goods in Lake Charles, or any retailer…

Scrap metal and secondhand dealers operating in unincorporated Bossier Parish must file a daily report of every metal…

Jefferson Parish charges pawnbrokers and other secondhand money lenders a flat $1,000 annual occupational license…

New Orleans requires every junk dealer, anyone buying, selling, or gathering scrap metal, wiring, or other secondhand…

Anyone buying, selling or trading used property in Shreveport, from jewelry and tools to salvaged building components…

Pawnshops cannot legally operate in the City of Gretna. Sec. 46-19 bars the city from issuing any pawnshop permit or…

East Baton Rouge Parish requires both a pawnshop business license and a separate personal pawnbroker permit from the…

Every pawnbroker and wage/salary money-lender operating in Jefferson Parish must hold an occupational license carrying…

In the City of Kenner, every pawnbroker and every person or business lending money on pawned or pledged articles, wages…

Anyone operating as a pawnbroker or lending against pledged goods, wages or salaries in Lafayette Parish needs an…

New Orleans licenses pawnbrokers through its occupational license tax code rather than a standalone permit article…

Every pawnshop and pawnbroker operating in Shreveport must file a daily transaction record with the police department…

St. Tammany Parish taxes pawnbrokers under its occupational license tax article, basing the fee on gross retail sales…

Fixing or servicing vehicles or heavy machinery from home is banned outright as a home-based business in unincorporated…

In the City of Kenner, running an auto repair or auto rebuilding business out of your home is not allowed. Unified…

Shreveport flatly bars repairing or servicing vehicles or heavy machinery as a home-based business. The UDC also blocks…

Unincorporated St. Tammany Parish will not let you run an auto repair business out of your house. Sec…

Terrebonne Parish's zoning code confines 'automotive and equipment repair' to commercial and industrial districts like…

Gretna bans non-routine motor vehicle repair, work like engine or transmission replacement and paint jobs, in the front…

Lafayette does not allow auto or truck repair as a home business in residential zoning. Table 89-83-1 of UDC Sec. 89-83…

Lafayette's home-occupation rules bar auto and truck repair as a home business in RS and RM residential districts and…

Bossier City lets residents work on their own vehicles at home under UDC Section 6.6.9, but commercial auto repair for…

Lake Charles bars auto repair as a home occupation, but Sec. 24-5-203(17) still allows a resident to service their own…

Jefferson Parish lets a private property owner tow or boot an unauthorized vehicle at the driver's expense, but only if…

Under Kenner Code of Ordinances Section 15-77, a private property owner, lessee, or person in control of the property…

Wrecker operators who tow a vehicle from private property in Lafayette without the owner's consent must hand over a…

Any towing company that wants a spot on Shreveport's police rotational list needs a tow truck permit under section…

Bossier City requires every wrecker or towing service to hold a mayor-issued license and caps standard tow and storage…

Wrecker operators must register with local police, tow private-property vehicles to a licensed storage lot, and report…

Lake Charles Code Sec. 22-120 requires every wrecker operator who performs a non-consent private property tow to notify…

New Orleans caps non-consent tow fees at the Louisiana Public Service Commission's mandatory tariff and gives vehicle…

Terrebonne Parish caps tow charges at $55 and storage at $1 per day for vehicles it impounds, and requires anyone…