Here are some things you should know about legal prostitution in Nevada:. The movement against prostitution after the Civil War was closely linked to the abolition of slavery, and started with efforts to fight the licensing of houses of prostitution in many states, according to a history provided as part of a Ninth Circuit Court decision on brothel advertising. From and , there was a wave of laws passed against people who profited off putting women and girls into prostitution. Nevada law prohibits solicitation and prostitution unless it takes place in a licensed house of prostitution.
State law bans licensed brothels in counties with populations of , or more currently Clark County, home of Las Vegas.
Only 10 counties in Nevada allow prostitution, and even then, only within licensed brothels. Churchill County allows prostitution, but the last brothel license was surrendered in That includes Las Vegas and Reno, as well as the state capital. A count by the L. Times in early May revealed there are 20 operational brothels in Nevada.
Nye County has four, including two owned by Dennis Hof. Lyon County has four, all of which are owned by Hof. Although brothels and prostitutes pay a state business license fee, there is no excise tax on sex acts. In , Democratic then-state Sen.
Republican Gov. In , Democratic then-Sen. Harry Reid called on legislators to ban prostitution in a speech to lawmakers. But legislators never took up the cause, and Gov. Brian Sandoval said the matter was up to individual counties. A new movement to ban prostitution in select counties has cropped up this spring. Efforts are underway to ban prostitution in Lyon and Nye counties through county-wide votes.
