Pahrump, Nevada- Nye County Commissioners will hire expert, outside legal counsel to help defend against the lawsuit filed by Media Shops Inc., operators of the Adult Superstore on Emery Street in Pahrump.

Scott D. Bergthold, an attorney based in Chattanooga, Tenn., was hired by a unanimous vote of the commission July 5 for an undisclosed fee. His national-wide, municipal law practice focuses on the drafting and defense of adult business regulations in state and federal courts, according to information on his Web site.

Bergthold is the author of “Local Regulation of Adult Businesses, 2006 Edition,” as well as an American Bar Association article on licensing sexually-oriented businesses and other publications.

He spoke in front of the National Bureau of Business Licensing Officials in July 2004 on “How to Avoid The Top 10 Pitfalls of Adult Business Regulation.”

The Media Shops Inc. complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in May 2005, asks for a declaratory judgment that the Nye County sexually-oriented business ordinance passed in 2004 is unconstitutional and requests an injunction preventing the county from enforcing it.

The suit states some of the books, magazines, films, videotapes and DVDs sold at the business are sexually explicit but are protected by the First Amendment right of free speech.

The company operates two other businesses in Las Vegas.

The suit charges that ordinance No. 2004-22, establishing the licensing of sexually-oriented businesses, “is unconstitutional on its face, void for vagueness and overbreadth and violates plaintiff’s rights as guaranteed by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.”

Attorneys refer to the disclosure requirements of the ordinance as a violation of the rights of privacy and association.

The suit goes on to say the ordinance “does not bear any rational basis to the governmental interest intended to be advanced where Nye County allows legal houses of prostitution in unincorporated areas of the county pursuant to Nevada law but prohibits nude entertainment protected by the First and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.”

The classification of sexually-oriented business, and the terms like adult arcade, adult video store, etc. are unconstitutionally vague, the suit charges.

The ordinance “vests unconstitutional discretion in the licensing officer to determine who will be allowed to operate a business which is under the protection of the First and Fourteenth Amendments,” the suit claims.

The suit also attacks the imposition of a $6,500 fee for the business and $200 for each employee. It also claims the ability to search the premises without a warrant is illegal.

The attorneys, listed as Richard Salas of Las Vegas as well as Arthur W. Schwartz and Michael W. Gross of Schwartz and Goldberg, of Denver, cite far-ranging cases nationwide, like Freedman vs. Maryland and FW/PBS Inc. vs. City of Dallas.

The suit claims the establishment of zoning restrictions “unconstitutionally restricts the public’s access to certain publications and films on the basis of the content of these publications and films.” It adds the zoning requirement in industrial zones fails to provide an adequate number of locations in Nye County in which the business may legally operate.

“A lot of times we’ll bring in outside counsel that specialize in those areas,” Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett said this week.

He recalled a Nye County case to recover user taxes paid at the Nevada Test Site, in which the county hired outside counsel and won five out of six cases, accounting for a considerable sum of money.

“The First Amendment is a very, very complicated area of the law,” Beckett said. “We’re just interested in the county getting the most effective representation that we can.”