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<section number="5-2609" name="Standards of conduct and operation" law="code" slug="sec-5-2609" node_id="PTIITI17PULOLAPRGECOMA_SUBTITLE_5BULI_DIV26ADENCL_S5-2609STCOOP">
  <level label="a">
    <text>The following standards of conduct must be adhered to by employees of any adult entertainment premises:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>No employee or entertainer shall be unclothed, clothed in less than opaque attire, or shall move or remove such attire, or allow such attire to be moved or removed so as to expose to view any portion of the breast below the top of the areola or any portion of the pubic region, anus, buttocks, vulva or genitals, except upon a stage at least eighteen inches (18") above the immediate floor level and removed at least six feet (6') from the nearest patron.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>No employee or entertainer shall perform acts of or acts which simulate:</text>
      <level label="A">
        <text>Sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, or any sexual acts which are prohibited by law;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="B">
        <text>The touching, caressing or fondling of the breasts, buttocks or genitals; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="C">
        <text>The displaying of the pubic region, anus, vulva or genitals; except as provided for in Subsection (a) of this Section.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>No employee or entertainer mingling with the patrons shall be unclothed or in less than opaque and complete attire, costume or clothing as described in Subsection (a) of this Section.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>No employee or entertainer shall knowingly:</text>
      <level label="A">
        <text>Touch, caress or fondle the breast, buttocks, anus, genitals or pubic region of another person; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="B">
        <text>Permit the touching, caressing or fondling of his or her own breasts, buttocks, anus, genitals or pubic region by another person; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="C">
        <text>Permit any person upon the premises to touch, caress, or fondle the breasts, buttocks, anus, genitals or pubic region of another person.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>No manager or operator shall knowingly permit any person upon the premises to touch, caress, or fondle the breasts, buttocks, anus, genitals or pubic region of another person.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="6">
      <text>No employee or entertainer shall wear or use any device or covering exposed to view which simulates the breast below the top of the areola, vulva or genitals, anus, buttocks, or any portion of the pubic region.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="7">
      <text>No employee or entertainer shall use artificial devices or inanimate objects to depict any of the prohibited activities described in this Section.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="8">
      <text>No entertainer of any adult entertainment premises shall be visible from any public place during the hours of his or her employment, or apparent hours of his or her employment, on the premises.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="9">
      <text>No entertainer shall solicit, demand or receive any payment or gratuity from any patron for any act prohibited by this chapter.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="10">
      <text>No entertainer shall demand or collect any payment or gratuity from any patron for entertainment before its completion.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="11">
      <text>A sign shall be conspicuously displayed in the common area of the premises, and shall read as follows:</text>
      <table>
        <row>
          <cell>"THIS ADULT ENTERTAINMENT ESTABLISHMENT IS REGULATED BY PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MARYLAND. ENTERTAINERS ARE: (1) Not permitted to engage in any type of sexual conduct; (2) No employee or entertainer shall be unclothed, clothed in less than opaque attire, or shall move or remove such attire, or allow such attire to be moved or removed so as to expose to view any portion of the breast below the top of the areola or any portion of the pubic region, anus, buttocks, vulva or genitals, except upon a stage at least eighteen inches (18") above the immediate floor level and removed at least six feet (6') from the nearest patron. (3) Not permitted to demand or collect any payment or gratuity from any patron for entertainment before its completion."</cell>
        </row>
      </table>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>At any adult entertainment premises, the following are required:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Neither the performance nor any photograph, drawing, sketch or other pictorial or graphic representation thereof displaying any portion of the breasts below the top of the areola or any portion of the pubic hair, buttocks, genitals and/or anus may be visible outside of the adult entertainment premises.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Sufficient lighting shall be provided in and about the parts of the premises which are open to and used by the public so that all objects are plainly visible at all times.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>No entertainment shall be provided in any areas from which any other person may be prevented from entering, whether by a locking door or in any other manner.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>Good order must be maintained within a perimeter established by the licensing authority not to exceed five hundred (500) feet from the establishment, including but not limited to litter cleanup within the designated perimeter.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>Each establishment shall provide private security during operating hours for the safety of the patrons of the establishment.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="6">
      <text>The use of pyrotechnics in a licensed establishment is prohibited.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="7">
      <text>Noise levels shall not exceed fifty (50) decibels at the closest part of any residential property that is adjacent to the facility between the hours of 10:00 P.M. and 7:00 A.M.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="8">
      <text>The dance license requirements in Division 14 of this Subtitle shall apply if an establishment allows public dancing.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <text>This Division shall not be construed to prohibit protected expression, such as:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Plays, operas, musicals, or other dramatic works that are not obscene;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Classes, seminars and lectures held for serious scientific or educational purposes that are not obscene; or</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Exhibitions, performances, expressions or dances that are not obscene.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <text>For purposes of this Division, an activity is "obscene" if:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Taken as a whole by an average person applying contemporary community standards the activity appeals to a prurient interest in sex;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>The activity depicts patently offensive representations, as measured against community standards, of:</text>
      <level label="A">
        <text>Ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="B">
        <text>Masturbation, fellatio, cunnilingus, bestiality, excretory function, or lewd exhibition of the genitals or genital areas; or violent or destructive sexual acts, including but not limited to human or animal mutilation, dismemberment, rape or torture; and</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>The activity taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="e">
    <text>No manager, owner, entertainer or employee shall operate or maintain any warning procedures or device, or any nature or kind, for the purposes of warning any other person that police officers or County health, fire, licensing or building inspectors are approaching or have entered the adult entertainment premises.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="f">
    <text>It is unlawful for any person to violate any of the provisions of this Section.</text>
  </level>
</section>
