Kansas- lvin Lester Boone Sr., the porno king of Blue Summit, died almost seven years ago. Yet his X-rated empire, Erotic City, prospers still – thanks to a branch of the same Jackson County government that once tried to put Boone out of business.
It’s sort of an awkward situation.
The “mayor” of Erotic City died without a will, so the Jackson County Probate Court is obliged to help keep Boone’s smut business successful, at least until his wealth is split among the heirs.
Now a judge signs off on major decisions involving the sex-themed mini-mall that Boone built.
Court orders authorize monthly checks to Boone’s eight children, $5 million all totaled since the case began, records show. That represents some of the profits from the sale of X-rated merchandise in the bookstore and lingerie shop, as well as from the three dozen private video booths and an upstairs juice bar.
Chief Probate Judge Kathleen Forsyth declined to discuss the case, but others tell me Erotic City is doing better than it did when Boone was alive.
“It’s probably run in more of a straightforward manner than ever before,” says Jackson County Public Administrator Rebbecca Lake Wood, who represents one of the heirs. “Mr. Laws has done an excellent job.”
That would be Berry F. Laws III, the court-appointed administrator of the Boone estate. His is no easy assignment.
The case docket alone runs to nearly 60 pages, and that’s just the table of contents. So massive is the Boone file that it is kept separate from the 6,500 other active probate cases on the shelves. The Boone documents are in several cardboard boxes beneath the front counter of the clerk’s office on the courthouse’s ninth floor.
Naturally, neither Laws nor court officials ever thought they would become so intimately involved in the workings of an enterprise like Erotic City.
Surely, it cannot be that complicated that it has taken seven years to figure out. The average probate case normally runs nine months to two years, so what’s the holdup here?
“There’s been a lot of litigation,” Laws said.
Early on, it was a legal challenge from one of Boone’s former partners. Now, most of the delay is due to the nature of the Boone family itself.
Of eight offspring, only three shared the same mother, lawyers say. The oldest are in their mid-40s, while two are minors. Some of Boone’s kids hardly know each other, and there’s some tension, too.
“The eight don’t necessarily get along,” said Keenan Post, lawyer for one of the heirs.
Just shuffling paperwork back and forth takes lots of time. Plus, disputes arose over basic management issues.
Still, Laws has seen to it that each heir has received $603,000 in profits through March 1, according to the case file. And now, with one of the Boone children offering to sell her share of the business for $220,000, it suggests that the wages of sin have been pretty darn good.
“It’s close to the end,” Laws said. Settlement talks are ongoing. By October, Jackson County might finally be out of the sex business.
And in an odd way, that’s sort of a shame.
After all, what with accusations of poor management elsewhere in the Jackson County Courthouse, surely someone might find it useful to have a success story worth pointing out – if only to mature audiences.