JEFFERSON CITY, MO – Missouri State Senator Matt Bartle (R-Lee’s Summit) has submitted two new bills designed to make the state appear less “seedy,” according to a spokesperson for the senator.“It does not help the image of the state of Missouri when you see billboards lining the roads or tin sheds with “Triple X” painted on them,” said Bartle’s Chief of Staff, Todd Scott, according to TheManeater.com. “We would like to invite tourists here. We have made a lot of efforts to promote Missouri as a family-friendly state. These signs and businesses just give a rather seedy look to the state.”
The bills proposed by Bartle are SB 27, an act that would modify state law with regards to billboards and other signage for sexually oriented businesses, and SB 300, an act that would impose new restrictions on the sexually oriented businesses, themselves.
Among other things, SB 300 would prohibit anybody under the age of 21 from being employed by a sexual oriented business; make it a Class A misdemeanor for an employee “while semi-nude in a sexually oriented business, to solicit any pay or gratuity from a customer or for a customer to pay gratuity to an employee while he or she is semi-nude;” and establish a Class A misdemeanor for an employee of a sexually oriented business “while in a semi-nude state, to touch a customer or for a person to knowingly allow a person under 21 on the premises except for those on the premises for maintenance, repair work, or delivery of items.”
Under SB 300, sexually oriented businesses in Missouri would be forced to be closed on Sundays and on holidays, and would be barred from being open between the hours of 10:00 pm and 10:00 am on weekdays and Saturdays.
The proposed law would also prohibit the sale of alcohol by sexually oriented businesses, by prohibiting the Missouri authority that issues liquor licenses from licensing adult businesses.
The relevant portion of SB 300 states that the “supervisor of the division of alcohol and tobacco control shall not issue a license to sell intoxicating liquor or nonintoxicating beer to a sexually oriented or adult cabaret business.”
SB 27, Bartle’s proposed bill regulating signage for adult businesses, would mandate that no “billboard or other exterior advertising sign for an adult cabaret or sexually oriented business shall be located within one mile of any state highway if such billboard or sign displays any picture, photograph, image, or words describing, advertising, or discussing any material, product, performance, or other aspect that causes the business to be classified as an adult cabaret or sexually oriented business, except if such business is located within one mile of a state highway then the business may display a maximum of two exterior signs on the premises of the business.”
In the case that such a business is located within a mile of a state highway, the bill would require that “exterior signs shall consist of one identification sign and one sign solely giving notice that the premises are off limits to minors.” Such signs could include only the “name, street address, telephone number, and operating hours of the business,” under the proposed law.
Under the language of SB 27, signs for sexually oriented businesses would not be allowed to include “any picture, photograph, image, or words describing, advertising, or discussing any material, product, performance, or other aspect that causes the business to be classified as an adult cabaret or sexually oriented business.”
The proposed law also states that no “adult cabaret or sexually oriented business shall have more than two billboards or other exterior advertising signs that are not located on its own premises.”
Bartle’s spokesperson expressed confidence that both bills will survive legal challenges and scrutiny by the courts, saying that the bill’s language was based on a decision by the New York State Supreme Court, and that similar rulings have been upheld around the country.
“The age of majority [ranges] from 16 to get a driver’s license in some states to 18 to vote to 21 to drink,” Scott said. “If the current law says you need to be 21 to drink alcohol, certainly being a performer in an adult industry is a weightier decision.”
According to TheManeater.com, many sexually oriented businesses in Columbia, MO tend to be open until well past midnight and typically don’t open until the early evening. One such club, the Club Vogue, is open from 7:00 pm to 2:30 or 3:00 am during the week and until 4:00 am on Saturdays. The club is closed on Sundays.
Scott asserted that the state has a right to change those hours of operation as they see fit, provided that the total number of hours that a business is allowed to be open is sufficient.
“Twelve hours a day is enough for a business,” Scott said, according to TheManeater.com. “It’s not an infringement on their rights if you give them five or six days with over 40 hours a week to be open.”
