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No alcohol, no nudity at Missouri strip clubs

MISSOURI - Missouri's strip clubs will have more clothing, reduced hours and no alcohol after Aug. 28 under a bill signed Friday by Gov. Jay Nixon.

It's likely, however, that the law, which regulates the clubs and other sexually oriented businesses, will face a legal challenge.

A group of adult entertainment business owners has vowed to sue to stop the new law, much as they did in 2005, when a similar law was overturned in court as an unconstitutional infringement of free speech.

"I'm very disappointed in the governor's decision," said Mike Ocello, president of VGA Holding Corp., which owns several adult entertainment businesses throughout the country. Ocello, who lives in Mehlville and is on the Mehlville School Board, said he expects to be the plaintiff in the suit against the law.

"I'm upset about the impact this will have on the state's economy," Ocello said. "Jobs will be lost."

Ocello said the law would have no effect on his businesses in the St. Louis area, because they are in Illinois. But he said the limitations are severe enough that many of his colleagues in the business would either have to close or reduce staff.

The law targets adult entertainment businesses throughout Missouri. Most of the adult businesses in St. Louis and St. Louis County involve stores offering video rentals and magazines.

Ron Doss, the manager of Bargain Books in downtown St. Louis, Missouri said the law would have little impact on his store.

"We already close well before midnight, and we've always have had an age requirement," he said.

The new law — which was sponsored by Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Independence — would prohibit full nudity at strip clubs and prohibit such establishments from selling alcohol. Adult businesses — including adult bookstores and strip clubs — could not be located within 1,000 feet of a school, church or public park. Such businesses would have to close at midnight, and nobody younger than 18 would be allowed.

Nixon offered no comment. Bartle has been pushing for the bill during most of his eight years in the Senate. It received additional scrutiny this year because of an FBI investigation into pay-for-play allegations involving the 2005 version of the bill.

That year, a watered-down version of the bill passed, and Bartle and others suggested some legislators tried to inflict damage on the bill because of pornography industry campaign donations that were funneled to political committees connected to the former attorney for then-House Speaker Rod Jetton.

Bartle, Jetton and others testified before a grand jury in Kansas City earlier this year about the inquiry. No charges have been filed, and the FBI repeatedly has refused to confirm or deny any specific investigation.

The bill was opposed by some Democrats in the House over concerns that it limits free speech. Joe Ortwerth of the Missouri Family Policy Council in St. Charles said this version of the legislation was "carefully tailored" to pass constitutional muster.