No. Although prostitution is legal in many counties of Nevada, it is only legal in counties with a population of under 400,000. Clark County, the county Las Vegas is in, has a population of over 400,000, so prostitution is illegal there.
Nevada is the only U.S. state where prostitution is legal in some fashion. Prostitution is allowed in 10 of Nevada’s 16 counties, but only six allow it in every municipality. In seven counties, there is at least one active brothel, which is mostly located in rural areas. Nevada’s two most populous counties, Clark (which contains Las Vegas) and Washoe (which contains Reno), do not allow prostitution. Additionally, it is illegal in Nevada’s capital, Carson City.
In Nevada, most prostitution occurs illegally in the metropolitan areas of Las Vegas and Reno. In Nevada, customers spend more money on illegal prostitution than they do in regulated brothels.
History
Nevada has allowed brothels since the middle of the 20th century. A law was passed in 1937 requiring all prostitutes to undergo weekly health checks. Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an order to suppress prostitution near military bases in 1942, which affected the red-light districts of Reno and Las Vegas. In 1948, Reno officials attempted to shut down a brothel as a public nuisance; the Nevada Supreme Court upheld this decision in 1949. By 1951, both Reno and Las Vegas had closed their red-light districts as public nuisances, but brothels continued to exist throughout the state
As the owner of Mustang Ranch near Reno, Joe Conforte persuaded county officials to enact an ordinance allowing brothels and prostitutes to be licensed, thereby avoiding the threat of being shut down as a public nuisance.
Las Vegas officials, afraid that Conforte would use the same technique to open a brothel nearby, convinced the legislature, in 1971, to prohibit the legalization of prostitution in counties with a population above a certain threshold, tailored to apply only to Clark County.
In 1977, officials in Nye County tried to shut down Walter Plankinton’s Chicken Ranch as a public nuisance; brothels in that county were not required to be licensed then, and several others operated. Plankinton filed suit, asserting that the 1971 state law impliedly removed the assumption that brothels were public nuisances in the first place. In 1978, the Nevada Supreme Court agreed with this interpretation, and the Chicken Ranch was allowed to operate. When the county outlawed prostitution in 1978, after issuing licenses for seven years, brothel owners in Lincoln County protested. The Nevada Supreme Court ruled, however, that the county was permitted to do so.
In 1979, state law banned advertisements for brothels in counties that had outlawed prostitution. It was immediately challenged on First Amendment grounds and declared constitutional by the Nevada Supreme Court in 1981. Plankinton’s company Princess Sea Industries owned the Chicken Ranch. After a District judge overturned the law in July 2007, advertising in Las Vegas began.
In March 2010, the district judge’s decision was reversed by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The ACLU appealed to the full Ninth Circuit Court in March 2010. It appealed to the United States Supreme Court in 2011, but the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal. The ban on brothels advertising, therefore, remains in force.
Prostitutes and brothels pay federal income tax and pay local fees, but Nevada has no state income tax, and brothels are exempt from the state entertainment tax. The legislature declined to tax brothels to increase the business’s legitimacy in 2005. Brothels pay county taxes. About $400,00 to $500,000 is received by Lyon County from these taxes each year.
The Nevada State Board of Health unanimously agreed to add urethral examinations to the guidelines on December 11, 2009, allowing male sex workers to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases.
Brothels Must Abide By State Safety Regulations
Under Nevada law, sex workers who work in brothels must submit to monthly HIV and syphilis testing and periodic STD testing. The State of Nevada does not allow sex workers to provide services until they can prove they are free of sexually transmitted diseases.
Brothel Licenses Require a Background Check
To run or manage a brothel, one must pass a background check. The applicant must also disclose who manages the facility. The state also demands information about the business’ financing.
If Prostitution is Illegal, Why Are There So Many Ads for Escort Services and Entertainers?
Call girls and chauffeur services can get around the rather lax Las Vegas prohibition on prostitution by not actually offering sex. If you hire an escort, you are paying for a girl to come to your room, nothing more. You and the escort decide what happens behind closed doors.
Generally, an escort is a person who accompanies others for hire in either public or private settings, and escort services are legal in Las Vegas as well as the rest of Clark County.
Escorts operating in Clark County must possess work cards and be licensed by the state.
Moreover, escorts are not permitted to offer sexual services for money or advertise that sex is being offered.
Both the escort and the client may be charged with prostitution and pandering if they do so. Undercover operations are not uncommon to catch the perpetrators.
What Happens if I Get Caught with a Prostitute in Las Vegas?
If you get caught with a prostitute in Las Vegas, you can be charged with a misdemeanor. You may be taken to jail, and you may have to pay a fine.
Prostitution is defined by Nevada law (NRS 201.295) as engaging in sexual conduct, which includes intercourse, oral-genital contact, or any touching of the sexual organs or intimate parts of a person in exchange for a fee, monetary consideration, or another thing of value.
As an alleged customer attempting to solicit a prostitute in Nevada (NRS 201.354):
- The first offense is classified as a misdemeanor, which carries a jail sentence of up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, plus an additional fine of $400, and a civil penalty of up to $200. Records may be sealed immediately if dismissed. Records can be sealed after one year if convicted.
- For a second offense, it is charged as a gross misdemeanor, which carries a jail sentence of up to 1 year in county jail and/or a fine of up to $2,000, plus an additional fine of $800 and a civil penalty of at least $200. Records may be sealed immediately if dismissed. If convicted, after two years.
- The third or subsequent offense will be charged as a gross misdemeanor, which carries a jail sentence of up to one year in county jail or a fine of up to $2,000, plus an additional fine of $1,300 and a civil penalty of $200 or more. Records may be sealed immediately if dismissed. Two years after conviction if convicted.
Should I Contact a Lawyer?
If you have questions about prostitution in Las Vegas, you may want to talk to a criminal lawyer in Las Vegas to learn more about the applicable laws. If you need criminal defense, a lawyer can represent you in court.
