Price of sex rising? Nye County officials consider hiking brothel licensing fees

By Chris Kudialis

Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016 | 2 a.m.

PAHRUMP — Brothel owners in Nye County could soon find their businesses more expensive to operate.

Proposed changes to the Nye County code on legalized prostitution would increase licensing fees by anywhere from $625 to $5,000 a quarter depending on the number of prostitutes on a brothel's roster. For brothels with 16 to 25 prostitutes, for instance, the quarterly fee would jump from $7,500 to $12,500, Nye County Commissioner Butch Borasky said.

For a smaller outfit with one to five prostitutes, the fee jumps to $2,500 from $1,875. The quarterly fee for brothels with six to 10 prostitutes will stay at $4,000; between 11-15 prostitutes will stay at $7,500.

The changes, which also include a spike in the fee for annual brothel-wide background checks increasing from $5,000 to $7,500, are expected to be recommended Sept. 20 when the Nye County Commission meets. Approval could come in early October.

The proposal surfaced in January as part of a combined effort by Borasky and Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly to fix what they labeled an “outdated ordinance.” There are five brothels in Nye County, which is about an hour west of Las Vegas. The number of working girls varies from week to week but can't exceed the quarterly stipulated figure without facing extra fees.

“The intent was to update an ordinance that hadn’t been changed for over 20 years,” Wehrly said. “Everything goes up, and all we’re trying to do is bring this into today’s economic times.”

Nye County earns $70,000 to $80,000 a year between licensing fees for its five brothels and more than 120 prostitute worker fees. The county foresees increased revenues of $5,525 per quarter if the proposed changes are ratified.

The annual increase in worker fees would be donated to veterans organizations, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Borasky said.

On Aug. 15, Commissioners Lorinda Wichman and Dan Schinhofen held a formal meeting to deliberate with brothel owners Dennis Hof, Kenneth Green, Chuck Lee and their attorneys over the proposed changes, giving them until Tuesday to submit any rebuttals or additional ideas.

When legal representation from the three owners had different requests in amending the county ordinance, the commissioners pushed any decision on the issue forward to its Sept. 20 meeting. The delay frustrated Wichman, who said poor preparation by both the county and attorneys for Tuesday’s motion prevented progress.

“The reason this is such a mess is because it’s a new regulation by the Legislature,” she said. “We need to figure out how to put this stuff together in a timely manner.”

Also in question was whether Hof and Green violated city ordinances by buying billboards advertising their brothels in Nye County. According to Nevada Revised Statute 201.430, a “house of prostitution” can’t advertise on the public streets of any Nevada city or town or on any public highway. Billboards for Green’s Chicken Ranch can be seen in Pahrump and others advertising Hof’s Area 51 Cathouse are found in Amargosa Valley.

Hof, who was present Tuesday with Henderson-based attorney Marc Risman, said his billboards have been posted for four years and advertise products in the neighboring Area 51 Alien Travel Center he also owns, not his Cathouse brothel. Hof is running as a libertarian in Assembly District 36, which wraps west of Las Vegas and covers Pahrump, Sandy Valley, Jean and Primm.

He called both the proposed hike in brothel fees and crackdown on his billboard “completely political,” arguing that other billboards across Nye County also violate county code.

“Rural Nevada has a lot of signs and they’re not all legal,” Hof said. “I bet I saw 200 illegal signs driving around here.”

Commissioner Borasky said Tuesday the hiked rates were a result of years of planning and not politically motivated. Borasky, who was first elected in 2006, said he has been trying since he took office to update ordinances on legalized prostitution.

Wehrly, who was elected Nye County sheriff in 2014, was the first sheriff to work with him on that, he said.

Among other new brothel regulations under the proposed ordinance change include more frequent health checks for brothel employees and a requirement for all part-owners with an investment stake in a brothel to be identified by the county.