Carson unlikely to allow brothels

A state committee could discuss the legalization of prostitution in Carson City if anyone responds to one state senator's offer.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, head of the Senate Taxation Committee, said he'd listen to proposals to legalize and tax prostitution in urban counties where brothels are illegal.

Both Republicans and Democrats have said the state should consider all options to deal with budget problems, Coffin said. Regulating and taxing prostitution in urban counties including Clark, Washoe and Carson City is an option he's willing to listen to, he said.

"You cannot stop it," he said of prostitution, "but maybe you begin to treat it like practical human beings would treat it."

Coffin said the state also should look at taxing brothels and strip clubs beyond the local taxes they pay.

State law allows brothels in counties with populations less than 400,000 people, making prostitution illegal in Washoe and Clark counties. The majority of rural counties have laws that allow and regulate brothels.

Carson City has a small adult entertainment district, but it does not allow brothels.

It would not have to got through the state if it did want to change its law to allow brothels, said Edie Cartwright, a Nevada Attorney General's Office representative.

"As far as we can see it, it would be a county issue," she said.

Every county should be able to decide for itself whether to allow brothels, Coffin said.

But city officials say the idea would not be popular in Carson City.

Developmental Services Director Walt Sullivan said many people objected to a short-lived adult theater in the city in the 1980s.

This led the city to create a 700-acre adult entertainment district in the industrial area on the east side of the city. Strip clubs and adult theaters are allowed there if they get a permit.

Sullivan said a brothel would be very different than a strip club or adult theater.

"That issue would be a lighting striker," he said.

Mayor Bob Crowell said the city shouldn't tell other local governments what to do, but he opposes brothels in the city as both the mayor and as a resident.

"There's no appetite on my part and I don't think there's an appetite in Carson City," he said. "There just isn't."

Lyon County does have its four brothels about two miles outside the city limits.

Geoff Arnold, president of the Nevada Brothel Association, said the city doesn't need to legalize brothels with those well-run businesses so close.

"I can't understand why Carson City would want to do that," he said.

Neighboring Lyon and Storey counties collect thousands of dollars in brothel license fees each year.

A brothel license costs $75,000 annually in Storey County and $72,000 to $96,000 annually in Lyon County.

City Sheriff Kenny Furlong said hasn't seen any reports of prostitution in the city and doesn't think it is a significant problem.

The city doesn't have prostitutes walking the streets like some other cities, either, he said.

But "does it exist here in Carson?" he said. "You know it does, because it exists right outside the county line."

- Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.