Utah Legislature: Escorts may need multiple licenses

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would force escorts to be licensed in each municipality where they work passed out of a house panel on Monday with almost no debate.

Sponsored by Rep. Jay Seegmiller, D-Sandy, the bill is strongly supported by Salt Lake City prosecutor Sim Gill.

HB398 is an attempt to beef up anti-prostitution enforcement, Gill told the committee. It comes in response to escorts' getting business licenses in places like Herriman but then working in Salt Lake City and then violating local ordinances, he said.

The courts have ruled that business licenses trump local sexually oriented business licenses even across municipal boundaries, Gill said.

Escort services deserve special attention because they are so often implicated in criminal activity and because local governments have passed special laws about them, he said.

The Utah Eagle Forum strongly supports the legislation, said Dalane England, vice president.

Utah Libertarian Party chairman and attorney Andrew McCullough was the bill's sole protester. It is unfair to make escorts get licenses in every jurisdiction when other professionals such as attorneys or plumbers aren't required to do so, he said. Full compliance valleywide could cost an individual $16,000, he said.

McCullough also said the law would be impractical, and thus would likely not be followed. Ultimately, the civil rights lawyer said the purpose of the law is to force escorts out of business.

"The power to tax is the power to destroy," he said.

Salt Lake City should stick to enforcing laws against prostitution that are already on the books, McCullough said.

Following the committee meeting, Gill said that attorneys and plumbers, as referenced by McCullough, are subject to state licensing requirements. The state does not have a similar license for escorts, he said, but such an option is being considered.

The bill passed out of the House Business and Labor Committee 9-3, with Rep. Kevin S. Garn, R-Layton, Rep. Todd Kiser, R-Sandy and Rep. Brent Wallis, R-Ogden, voting against a favorable recommendation.

e-mail: rpalmer@desnews.com