City May Help County Enforce Sex Shop Laws

Spokane County’s sex shops soon may face stricter laws and tougher enforcement.

The City Council will consider a proposal tonight that calls for the city and county to share the cost of a prosecutor whose full-time job is writing and enforcing adult-entertainment laws.

Under the plan, the county would pay about $28,000 toward city prosecutor Patti Connolly Walker’s $70,000 salary-and-benefits package.

“We have a tremendous number of citizens who contact us with regard to the impact of these (businesses) on neighborhoods and the ongoing criminal activity associated with them,” said City Attorney James Sloane.

“It clearly warrants our efforts to regulate them in the most costeffective manner possible.”

Currently, laws that regulate adult bookstores, arcades and other sexually oriented businesses differ between the county and the city. The proposal calls for drafting laws that will be used countywide.

“There’s a definite need to coordinate services and efforts,” said Penny Lancaster, an anti-porn crusader who helped write the city’s adult-arcade law. “I believe this is a very wise move on the part of the council.”

Sloane said Walker has “developed some very specific expertise” defending the city laws that regulate sex shops. “It’s a tremendous opportunity to get the best from a very talented young lawyer.”

Walker successfully defended the city’s adult-arcade ordinance against a 1994 legal challenge. The law requires shops to remove doors from viewing booths.

Earlier this year, she prosecuted an adult bookstore manager who had hired a 16-year-old girl to dance nude in a glass booth. A city ordinance forbids minors in adult arcades.

A briefing for council members will begin at 3:30 p.m. today in the lower-level conference room of City Hall, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. The regular meeting will begin at 6 p.m.

, DataTimes