Question of the Day - 22 January 2026

Actually, prostitution was legal in Clark County until 1971. That year, the Nevada Legislature outlawed the business in the county, which changed it from tolerated and regulated in brothels (in some areas) to outright illegal, leading to enforcement efforts against streetwalkers, who were overrunning Las Vegas at the time. 

In the 1960s and early 1970s, the proliferation of conspicuous prostitution downtown and on the Strip prompted state lawmakers to take the matter into their own hands, explicitly prohibiting prostitution, including the hitherto legal brothels, in counties with a population above a set threshold. In 1971, that was 250,000; in 1970, Clark County's population was around 273,000. Though the population threshold has changed over time and is now 700,000, Nevada's second most populous county, Washoe, has only around 500,000, so the statute still applies specifically to southern Nevada.

Now, to answer your question, since 1971, yes, there have been discussions, proposals, and debates about legalizing or at least decriminalizing prostitution in Clark County, but none, obviously, have succeeded. Advocates argue that decriminalizing sex work can improve safety and reduce human trafficking, while opponents cite moral, social, and economic concerns (both sides of this issue are too extensive and fraught to delve into in this answer). 

Statewide, in 2024, a political action committee, Safer Nevada, tried to place an initiative on a ballot to legalize brothels in all counties and incorporated cities in Nevada, which would have included Clark County. The "Nevada Regulation of Brothels Initiative" was filed, but ultimately didn't qualify for the ballot and was withdrawn.

Here at ground zero, the last time we can recall that the discussion surfaced was when former Mayor Oscar Goodman publicly mused, as he was wont to do, about the idea of legalizing brothels in Las Vegas as a possible economic-development tool. However, his comments were largely rhetorical and didn't lead to any serious potential changes in policy or the law, especially since many other local officials vociferously opposed his sentiments.

In the past, polls of Nevada residents have indicated that a majority of Nevada voters opposed legalizing brothels in Las Vegas. In one conducted in 2003, 52% of respondents supported the existing system of regulated brothels in rural areas, while 59% opposed its legalization in Las Vegas. In a Clark County-specific poll in 2010 conducted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, 64% of polled residents opposed legalization locally. 

Of course, sex for sale goes on here all the livelong day and night and its euphemistic disguises, escort and massage services, fool exactly no one. That said, it's still illegal.