Published on: December 5, 2025, 07:21h.
Updated on: December 4, 2025, 07:35h.
EDITOR’S NOTE: “Vegas Myths Busted” is published weekly on Mondays, with a special Flashback Friday post. This edition first appeared on August 19, 2022, and remains the most popular of the 174 entries in this series.
Indeed, that advertising truck driving by with the slogan “Girls Direct to You!” is real. And yes, those individuals on the street distributing cards depicting partially clothed women and a contact number are very much a presence.
However, it is essential to note that prostitution is not legalized in Las Vegas.
Prostitution has technically been illegal in Las Vegas since the closure of its red-light districts during the 1940s and 1950s. The law officially banned it in Clark County (essentially Las Vegas) in 1971. Non-brothel prostitution activities, such as street solicitation and services suggested by those billboard trucks, have been against the law throughout the state since 1987.
“Many people think Las Vegas permits prostitution due to its apparent visibility,” remarked Michael Green, a history associate professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in an interview with Casino.org. “It aligns with the idea that anything goes in Las Vegas. So why wouldn’t prostitution be allowed?”
A recent headline from last week highlights how pop culture fuels this misconception: “Vegas Sex Worker Offering VIP Deal to Raiders,” according to TMZ. The individual, Arial Ganja, operates at the Chicken Ranch in Nye County, located an hour from the Strip, which is why she included a complimentary limo service in her offer.
Billboard Trucks and Escort Cards: What’s the Deal?
It is entirely legal for an escort to accept payments for visiting a stranger’s hotel room for reasons that remain unspecified. Advertising such services is also permissible, a practice that used to take up over 100 pages in the local telephone directory.
“What happens when a paid escort arrives at your room could be legal or illegal, but unless someone calls the police, there’s nothing they can do,” said Green.
If you happen to find a genuine brothel in Las Vegas, you should be aware that such establishments are neither legal nor a safe choice. In August 2022, law enforcement arrested two individuals suspected of running an illicit brothel near the Strip, where nearly 200 men were seen entering and leaving after brief stays.
Brothels like this one, which promoted its services on Craigslist, are often linked to sex trafficking, kidnapping, drug-related activities, and various unsafe crimes, as their very nature is inherently criminal.
Nevada’s Complex Relationship with Prostitution
In the 19th century, Nevada’s key attraction wasn’t casinos or Cirque du Soleil shows, but rather its gold and silver mines. This surge in prospectors led to a gender imbalance, with three men for every woman. Brothels emerged to address this disparity. By the early 20th century, every other U.S. state had implemented laws outlawing businesses that coerced women and girls into prostitution.
However, Nevada, where brothels were culturally embedded, took a peculiar step by leaving the decision to the counties and municipalities.
“This reflects Nevada’s occasionally misguided libertarian beliefs — a live-and-let-live mentality,” Green explained. “Leaders decided to permit what other states would not. For instance, in 1897, Nevada was the sole state to permit prizefighting, and gambling and prostitution flourished without restraint.”
In areas that opted to allow it, brothel prostitution became heavily regulated. In 1937, Nevada’s State Board of Health mandated that brothel workers undergo weekly gonorrhea checks and monthly syphilis screenings.
Ultimately, during the 1970s, specific Nevada counties with established regulations began to officially legalize brothels, with Storey County being the first in 1971, giving rise to Joe Conforte’s Mustang Ranch.
Presently, 20 legal brothels operate across the 10 Nevada counties that permit them, according to the Nevada Brothel List website. This is a decrease from a peak of 35 brothels in the early 1980s.
Prostitution Near Las Vegas
Beyond the Chicken Ranch, Sheri’s Ranch is also located about an hour away from the Strip in Nye County. The only other operational legal brothel in Nye is the Alien Cathouse, which is situated 90 minutes northwest in Amargosa Valley.
In the past, Nye County’s most recognized brothel was Dennis Hof’s Love Ranch in Crystal. Basketball player and “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” star Lamar Odom drew international attention to it in 2015 when he nearly died from a drug overdose while visiting. Three years later, brothel owner Hof sadly passed away there at age 72 in the same room. In 2022, it was put up for sale for $1.2 million.
At Nevada’s legal brothels, sex workers operate in a manner akin to independent contractors in salons or spas. They are responsible for paying state licensing fees and taxes on their earnings. Additionally, sex workers cover their weekly STD tests and pay for registration cards, which vary in price across counties.
They negotiate service prices with clients, typically ranging from $100 to $1,000 for various services, and are expected to return half of their earnings to the brothel to cover rent, meals, utilities, and other operational costs.
Why is Prostitution Prohibited in Las Vegas?
That’s an intriguing question, isn’t it? It’s rare for anyone to inquire why brothels are banned in Detroit or Wichita.
Following his success in Storey County, Joe Conforte faced unexpected challenges when attempting to secure a brothel license in Clark County in 1971. Instead of approval, Conforte inadvertently led to the prohibition of prostitution. County officials persuaded state legislators to strip the option of legal brothels from any county housing over 200,000 residents — a category that included Clark County at the time.
“When the 1971 prostitution law was enacted, Nevada had recently passed the Corporate Gaming Act to attract publicly traded companies and distance itself from organized crime,” Green noted. “As Las Vegan Andre Agassi famously remarked, image is vital. Yet, in terms of social issues, Las Vegas has become notably less libertarian as the population has grown.”
“We’re far more conservative than many people believe.”
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