BAY MINETTE, Alabama – Baldwin County authorities, using a state zoning statute, are trying to shut down four video stores by charging the owners with selling sexually explicit material close to areas frequented by children.

District Attorney David Whetstone said summonses have been issued for the owners of ShowTime Video and Front Row Video in Lillian; Wilcox Video in the Wilcox community in east-central Baldwin County, and Highway 59 Video in Loxley.

The summonses charge the owners with violating a state law that bans adult bookstores, video stores or movie theaters within 1,000 feet of any location, including parks, churches, schools and homes, where children might gather.

Whetstone said no arrest warrants have been issued.

The district attorney said county officials have been receiving complaints for more than a year from residents living near the businesses.

Two undercover investigators bought videos believed to be pornographic in each of the stores and then used county computer maps to determine if they were within the areas prohibited under the law, he said.

Whetstone said the videos will also be presented to the Baldwin County grand jury to determine if the material violates anti-pornography laws.