Are there legal brothels in Las Vegas?

Posted on October 13, 2020

No. Brothels – as well as any other forms of prostitution (NRS 201.354) – are not allowed in Las Vegas or elsewhere in Clark County under NRS 244.345. Prostitutes and customers face misdemeanor charges merely for offering or agreeing to trade sexual favors for money – if even no money ends up changing hands and no sex acts take place. And pimps face more serious charges of pimping (NRS 201.320) and pandering (NRS 201.300(1)).

Where are legal brothels in Nevada?

Legal prostitution may occur only in licensed brothels in the state of Nevada. At this time, the only counties that permit licensed brothels are:

• Elko (just in the incorporated towns of Elko, Carlin, Wendover and Wells, which includes Bella’s Hacienda Ranch)
• Lander
• White Pine (just in the incorporated city of Ely)
• Nye (home of the Alien Cathouse and Sheri’s Ranch)
• Mineral
• Lyon County (just in Mound House, Love Ranch, and Dennis Hof’s Moonlite Bunny Ranch)
• Storey County (home of Mustang Ranch)

Three other counties do not outlaw licensed brothels but do not currently have any. These counties are:

• Churchill
• Esmeralda
• Humbolt (just in the incorporated town of Winnemucca)

Brothels are prohibited under state law in any Nevada County with a population of 700,000 or more residents. Therefore, all of Clark County (including the Las Vegas Strip) can never issue brothel licenses. In addition, the local governments of Douglas County, Lincoln, Eureka County, Pershing County, and Washoe County (including Reno and Sparks) as well as Carson City ban brothels.

At this time, there are about 21 lawful brothels in Nevada, and they are all in rural counties. The closest of Nevada’s legal brothels to Las Vegas are located in Pahrump (in Nye County). (However, brothels are currently closed due to the COVID-19 / coronavirus pandemic.)

Nevada is the only state in the United States with some form of legalization of prostitution.

What are Nevada’s brothel rules?

The Nevada brothel sex industry is highly regulated. Some of the prostitution laws that the brothel industry must follow are the following:

• Brothels must pay their workers fair wages.
• Brothels may not be located close to a school or place of worship.
• Brothels may not be located on a principal street.
• Brothel owners may not advertise in counties which outlaw prostitution.
• Sex workers must submit to regular HIV and STD (sexually transmitted disease) tests.
• Sex workers must use condoms for sexual activities.
• Sex workers must be at least 18 years old.
• Sex workers must have work cards, which requires background checks.
• Sex workers cannot be forced to do sex work; they must choose to.

Note that brothel workers are typically independent contractors.

What are the prostitution penalties outside of licensed brothels?

Penalties for violating Nevada laws for prostitution turn on the specific offense:

In short, illegal prostitution – such as through streetwalking, escort service or strip club solicitations – is typically a misdemeanor. Judges usually do not impose jail for a first-time offense.

See our related article, Are prostitution and solicitation the same thing in Nevada?

About the Author

Neil Shouse

A former Los Angeles prosecutor, attorney Neil Shouse graduated with honors from UC Berkeley and Harvard Law School (and completed additional graduate studies at MIT). He has been featured on CNN, Good Morning America, Dr Phil, Court TV, The Today Show and Court TV. Mr Shouse has been recognized by the National Trial Lawyers as one of the Top 100 Criminal and Top 100 Civil Attorneys.