Can two adult-oriented businesses operate in the same Tennessee building if they have separate entrances, addresses, meters, and licenses?

Plain-English summary

Representative Eddie Bass asked the AG whether the Tennessee Adult-Oriented Establishment Registration Act allowed two adult businesses to operate inside the same building if they kept everything separate, two doors, two street addresses, two electric meters, two business licenses, two adult-establishment licenses, and no internal connection between them.

AG Robert E. Cooper, Jr. said no. The relevant statute, Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1104(b), reads as a flat structural prohibition: "No building, premises, structure or other facility that contains any adult-oriented establishment shall contain any other kind of adult-oriented establishment." The AG said that on the plain meaning of "building," "structure," and "facility," the proposed setup violated the statute, because the inquiry is whether the two businesses share a single physical structure, not whether they operate as separate enterprises with separate licenses.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2010. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: What does the Adult-Oriented Establishment Registration Act cover?
A: Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1101 et seq. covers a broad list of "adult-oriented establishments," including adult bookstores, adult motion picture theaters, adult mini-motion picture establishments, adult cabarets, escort agencies, sexual encounter centers, massage parlors, rap parlors, saunas, and any premises arranged with booths/cubicles/rooms for viewing adult-oriented motion pictures or for adult entertainment by performers. Adult entertainment studios in various forms are included.

Q: Why doesn't separating the businesses work?
A: The statute's text targets the building, not the business. Two separate adult businesses in one building still produce two adult businesses in one building. The AG read "building," "structure," and "facility" by their commonly understood meanings, all of which describe the physical envelope, not the legal or operational organization inside it.

Q: Could a developer split a building?
A: The opinion did not analyze what kind of physical separation might create two "buildings" rather than one, but the structure-versus-business focus suggests that creating genuinely separate physical structures (free-standing buildings on the same lot, perhaps) might address the concern. The setup the requester described, two storefronts inside a single building, was clearly within one "building."

Q: Where does this Act apply?
A: It applies in counties where it has been adopted under the local-option mechanism in the Act. Counties that have not opted in are not subject to the registration regime described in the opinion. Cities may have separate adult-oriented business regulations; the AG addressed only the state Act.

Q: What's the penalty for operating an unlicensed adult-oriented establishment?
A: The opinion did not detail enforcement mechanisms. Sanctions include licensing denials, license revocations, and any criminal penalties built into the local code that incorporates the state Act.

Background and statutory framework

Tennessee's Adult-Oriented Establishment Registration Act sets up a county-level licensing board (in counties that adopt it) for businesses meeting the statute's definition of an "adult-oriented establishment." The basic framework is that any such establishment must be licensed, and the license attaches to a fixed location.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1104(b) imposes three limits in one paragraph: (a) one license per establishment per location; (b) anyone wanting to operate multiple establishments needs multiple licenses; and (c) the building/premises/structure/facility limit, which is the focus of this opinion. The third clause is structural rather than operator-based; it applies even if two genuinely independent operators would each individually qualify for licenses.

The opinion's approach is conventional plain-meaning statutory construction. Where the statute uses words ("building," "structure," "facility") that have ordinary meanings, those ordinary meanings control. The AG declined to construe the statute as a single-operator rule that could be satisfied by separating ownership, because that would re-write the words "building" and "structure" to mean "operator." A different statutory drafting (one establishment per operator per building) would have produced a different result.

Citations and references

Statutes (as of 2010):

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1101 et seq. (Adult-Oriented Establishment Registration Act)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1102 (definitions)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1104(b) (one license per building)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2010/op10-015.pdf

Original opinion text

Prohibition of Multiple Adult-Oriented Establishments in the Same Building or Structure

QUESTION

Does Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1104(b) prohibit two adult-oriented establishments operating in the same building or structure, where there is no interior access from one establishment to the other and where the businesses have two separate entrances, two addresses, two separate electric meters, two business licenses, and two adult-oriented establishment licenses?

OPINION

Yes, Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1104(b) prohibits more than one adult-oriented establishment at a building, premises, structure, or other facility.

ANALYSIS

Tennessee's Adult-Oriented Establishment Registration Act, Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1101, et seq., in counties where it is applicable, requires an "adult-oriented establishment" to register with a county adult-oriented establishment board and to comply with restrictions and conditions regarding the operation of the establishment. Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1102(6)(2009 Supp.) specifies:

"Adult-oriented establishment" includes, but is not limited to, an adult bookstore, adult motion picture theater, adult mini-motion picture establishment, adult cabaret, escort agency, sexual encounter center, massage parlor, rap parlor, sauna; further, "adult-oriented establishment" means any premises to which the public patrons or members are invited or admitted and that are so physically arranged as to provide booths, cubicles, rooms, compartments or stalls separate from the common areas of the premises for the purpose of viewing adult-oriented motion pictures, or wherein an entertainer provides adult entertainment to a member of the public, a patron or a member, when such adult entertainment is held, conducted, operated or maintained for a profit, direct or indirect. "Adult-oriented establishment" further includes, without being limited to, any adult entertainment studio or any premises that is physically arranged and used as such, whether advertised or represented as an adult entertainment studio, rap studio, exotic dance studio, encounter studio, sensitivity studio, model studio, escort service, escort or any other term of like import[.]

In regard to issuance of a license by the county adult-oriented establishment board, Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1104(b)(2009 Supp.) provides:

A license may be issued only for one (1) adult-oriented establishment located at a fixed and certain place. Any person, partnership or corporation that desires to operate more than one (1) adult-oriented establishment must have a license for each. No building, premises, structure or other facility that contains any adult-oriented establishment shall contain any other kind of adult-oriented establishment.

The question presented is whether two adult-oriented establishments may be operated out of the same building or structure if there is no interior access from one establishment to the other. The question presented is described further as being a situation essentially involving two separate places of business with two separate entrances, two addresses, two separate electric meters, two business licenses, and two adult-oriented establishment licenses. On its face, Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1104(b) prohibits the operation of two adult-oriented establishments, as described, operating out of the same "building, premises, structure or other facility." Applying the commonly understood definitions of "building," "structure," or "facility," it is our opinion that on its face, Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1104(b) prohibits the operation of the previously described establishments.

ROBERT E. COOPER, JR.
Attorney General and Reporter

CHARLES L. LEWIS
Deputy Attorney General

STEVEN A. HART
Special Counsel

Requested By:
The Honorable Eddie Bass
State Representative
109 War Memorial Building
Nashville, TN 38243