BILLINGS, MT – Yellowstone County voters rejected yesterday a proposed anti-obscenity ordinance that would have restricted the operation of strip clubs and other sexually-oriented businesses by altering Yellowstone County zoning regulations, and which would have criminalized “broadly defined ‘obscenity’ made available to one or more people of any age anywhere in Yellowstone County,” according to reports in the Billings Gazette.According to the Gazette, with all 69 precincts reporting, 15,314 votes were cast against the new ordinance while 12,062 votes were cast in support of the measure.
The new ordinances were the brainchild of Dallas Erickson, a self-proclaimed “anti-obscenity crusader,” who has pushed for similar legislation in other Montana counties, as well.
As previously reported in the Gazette, the proposed obscenity ordinances did not wind up on the June ballot by way of a petition drive, the usual means by which such initiatives are put to public vote. Instead, the Yellowstone County Commission “invited” him Erickson to join in a “friendly lawsuit.”
Once Erickson filed his lawsuit, the Yellowstone County Attorney’s Office, acting on the request of the County Commission, challenged Erickson’s proposals. After Erickson received a favorable ruling from a District Court, the County appealed to the Montana Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case. The Gazette reports that the County then paid Erickson’s attorney fees of $8,500.
Billings City Attorney Brent Brooks has been quoted as saying that the city of Billings would not enforce the new ordinances, even if they did pass Tuesday’s vote.
“The city is not responsible for enforcing that ordinance,” Brooks said during a budget-related meeting in May, according to reports in the Billings Gazette. “It would only be enforced within the county.”
Brooks added that under state law, the county has no authority to require the city to enforce a county ordinance, even though the city of Billings is part of Yellowstone County.
Montana state law already prohibits exposing minors to obscenity, and contains language criminalizing “indecent exposure,” and the businesses and citizens of Billings, as is the case for residents of any US state, are subject to prosecution under federal obscenity laws, as well.
Changes under the new ordinance would have included limitations on the size and placement of advertising for adult businesses, and requirements aimed specifically at adult shops that offer video viewing booths. The new regulations would have prohibited business from putting doors or curtains on video viewing booths, and require that customers always be “within site” of the store manager while viewing videos.
