Texas- A federal ruling might mean dropped charges for a Babe’s Video employee, but it won’t slow an injunction that could shut down the neighboring club for a year or stop Nolanville’s new ordinance that aims to clean up the club.

The Nolanville City Council approved a new ordinance governing sexually-oriented businesses Thursday.

However, council members disagree about the intent of the new ordinance. One council member insists the law is not aimed at driving away the Babe’s of Nolanville, which was raided by area law enforcement personnel Jan. 18, but instead is intended to clean up the club.

Under the new ordinance, the city’s building official can revoke a sexually-oriented business’ license if the person who filed for the license or an employee is convicted of, among other things, obscenity, prostitution and promoting prostitution, or has knowingly allowed sexual contact.

In the Jan. 18 raid, several Babe’s employees were charged with prostitution or selling obscene materials. Under the new ordinance, if the employee is convicted, the business could lose its license.

“I’m sorry that we didn’t have something like this in place before giving approval” to Babe’s, said Councilman Stan Williamson, who voted in favor of the new ordinance.

He said the new ordinance also replaces a bunch of ordinances that were scattered throughout the city’s code and this consolidates all those ordinances into a single ordinance that governs the operation of sexually-oriented businesses.

“It puts all the do’s and don’ts in one document and makes it easy to read,” Williamson said.

Another major change requires that all employees of a sexually-oriented business must be 21 years of age, Williamson said. Several employees arrested in January were over 18, but under 21 years of age.

Councilman Wayne Hamilton, who declined to vote for the ordinance, said approving the ordinance was unnecessary and could cost the city money. He said that since actions have already been taken by the Bell County Attorney’s office, the ordinance just puts the city in the middle of the issue and could be costly if a business sues the city or the county.

“I think we should have tabled it for another meeting and done this research before we voted,” Hamilton said.

Williamson said the intent of the ordinance is not to shut down Babe’s.

“It’s to get rid of certain activities that have taken place there,” he said. “You can have an adult club like that and still run a legitimate business. You don’t have to have lap dancing or porn movies playing or anything like that. A young lady can dance on the poles without becoming engaged with the customer.”

Williamson said he believes businesses like Babe’s can be a viable part of the community.

“I believe establishments like Babe’s are needed to satisfy the curiosity, if nothing else, of the patrons.”

However, Councilwoman Denise Hungerford, who voted against the ordinance, believes the council has ulterior motives.

“They (Babe’s) were in here already and when I read part of the ordinance, it sounded to me like they (the council) were trying to do away with them getting the license that was required, and everyone has a right to obtain the license,” said Hungerford, who said she had read only about half the ordinance as of Friday.

“I don’t know what was planned to do after this ordinance. Maybe they (the council) are just trying to define it so that kind of thing doesn’t happen again,” she said. “It seems like they didn’t want that in here after they were already here.”

Hungerford said she thinks that Babe’s should be booted from Nolanville “only if they have overstepped so far that they can’t be repaired.” She added, “I don’t think it’s at that point.”

As of Friday, council members were uncertain if Babe’s will be grandfathered in under the ordinance since it was passed after its license was issued. Hamilton said he will be looking into that and will announce at an upcoming agenda meeting if the new ordinance will be able to govern Babe’s.

Overturned law

A federal ruling on a Texas law has opened the door for businesses like Babe’s Video to sell sexually-oriented devices that were previously labeled as obscene.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that Texas violated citizens’ right to privacy as protected in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment by passing a law that made it illegal to sell or promote obscene devices.

The ruling impacts an arrest made in January by the Bell County Attorney’s office after its three-month-long investigation into Babe’s of Nolanville led to the Jan. 18 raid. Shantal S. Marin-Garcia, 19, of Killeen, was charged with three counts of promoting and possessing obscene material. Two of those charges are related to the sale of sexually-oriented novelty items, which the appeals court ruled that Texas could not outlaw.

However, Bell County Attorney Rick Miller’s decision about the charges depends on if state officials decide to appeal the ruling.

“If the law stands, then we drop those charges, and we return the devices,” Miller said. “We’re going to have to wait and see what the powers that be will do with that case.”

Miller said he did not know of the pending case or the Feb. 12 ruling until Feb. 15.

Miller said he does not consider whether or not the law might be wrongly imposing public morality on what people do behind closed doors in their own homes when he conducts investigations.

“Whatever the law is, I’m hired and elected to enforce it, and if it’s unconstitutional, then we won’t enforce it. If it’s on the books, then we do enforce it. I’m not in a position to pick and choose the laws I’m going to enforce,” he said.

Miller still expects to pursue charges for prostitution and those related to “hard-core” video sales, he said. However, Miller added that the same argument against Texas’ law governing obscene devices could be made against obscene materials, such as videos.

Travious Brooks, who owns Da Turn On, located at 1013 N. Eighth St. in Killeen, said he has been in the adult novelty industry for close to five years, and Texas’ law has been behind the times.

“I think this was overdue probably way before I got in the industry,” Brooks said. “It’s one thing if people were outside in the park fornicating, but I mean if you’re behind closed doors, you should be able to do what you want to do.”

Brooks said his business caters mostly to married couples seeking to spice up their relationships.

“They are buying the item to entice their own relationship, sometimes to keep their own relationship stronger,” he said.

Since items labeled as obscene devices are readily available for purchase on the Internet and can be shipped directly to a person’s home, the law isn’t stopping people from owning the items, just stopping local stores from selling them.

“People are going to get what they want regardless. If they can’t get it locally, they will find a way to get it,” Brooks said.

Though Brooks said he will wait to see if Texas appeals the law before he stocks his shelves with previously restricted items, he does believe if the obscene device law stays off the books, he will see a rise in business.

“It will give me more opportunity to bring more stuff that I couldn’t before but people always wanted,” Brooks said.

Injunction lawsuit

The ruling against Texas’ law came days after Miller asked the Bell County Commissioners Court to waive a bond posting, which would allow him to proceed with an injunction to shut down Babe’s.

The Commissioners Court voted unanimously to exempt Miller from having to post a bond to file his injunction against the three corporations invested in Babe’s.

Precinct 3 Commissioner Eddy Lange said the exemption was approved because it would facilitate action faster than if Miller had to file a request with the Texas Attorney General’s office.

Miller said the bond is required to ensure that a party that files an injunction is serious about their grievance.

“When you file one of these things, you’re putting your other party through a great deal,” he said. “It’s kind of a hassle to them.”

Miller said his injunction lawsuit aims to have the court deem Babe’s as a “common nuisance” because of charges Miller’s office filed related to employees committing prostitution at the club.

Miller was required to either post a bond or get an exemption approved by the Texas attorney general or by the local commissioners court.

If the injunction is granted by a court, then Babe’s would either be required to close down for one year or post a $10,000 bond that would allow it to stay open.

However, the bond would be forfeited and the club could be shut down permanently if it is cited for additional criminal offenses, Miller said.

Miller said he filed the injunction because the crimes were “continuous.”

“You had continuous offenses, and they were fairly flagrant,” he said. “There is nothing subtle about this place. We’ve had other clubs wondering why Babe’s was getting away with what they were getting away with.”

Since the injunction was filed the week of Feb. 11 and it takes several days for the owners to be notified, Miller expects the injunction to be heard in court in mid-March, if there is no agreement before then.

Miller also said he was aware of the pending federal case against the owners of Babe’s when his office’s investigation started, but the case had nothing to do with his investigation.

As far as the prostitution charges resulting from the Babe’s raid, Miller said he believes they are still in a grace period and estimated the county is about a month away from those charges heading to court.