Chapter 125: Sexually Oriented Businesses

§ 125.03 Classification And Standards Of Conduct And Operation

The text in force today, and every version since 2010.

Unofficial compilation built from the City's published 2010 Code chapters and the text of adopted ordinances. Effective dates are inferred from adoption records; scanned chapters were OCR'd. The City of Tiffin's adopted Code of Ordinances governs. Not legal advice.

125.03 CLASSIFICATION AND STANDARDS OF CONDUCT AND OPERATION

1. Sexually oriented businesses are classified as follows:

A. Adult arcades;

B. Adult bookstores or adult video stores;

C. Adult cabarets;

D. Adult motels;

E. Adult motion picture theaters;

F. Adult theaters;

G. Escort agencies;

H. Nude model studios; and

I. Sexual encounter centers.

2. The following standards of conduct must be adhered to by entertainers and employees of any sexually oriented business while on the premises:

A. No employee or entertainer shall be unclothed or in such less than opaque and complete attire, costume or clothing so as to expose to view any specified anatomical area. No payment or gratuity is allowed to any entertainer for any unlawful act as described by this chapter.

B. No employee or entertainer shall perform:

(1) Any specified sexual activities; or

(2) The displaying of any specified anatomical area.

C. No employee or entertainer shall be unclothed or in less than opaque and complete attire, costume, or clothing as described in subsection 2 of this section.

D. No employee or entertainer shall knowingly touch any specified anatomical area of another person, or knowingly permit another person to touch any specified anatomical area of such employee or entertainer; or no employee or entertainer shall knowingly fondle or caress any specified anatomical area of another person, whether such area is clothed, unclothed, covered or exposed, or knowingly permit another person to fondle or caress any specified anatomical area of such employee or entertainer, whether such area is clothed, unclothed, covered or exposed.

E. No entertainer shall be visible from any public place during the hours of his or her employment, or apparent hours of his or her employment, while such entertainer is unclothed or in such attire, costume, or clothing to expose to view any specified anatomical area or while performing any entertainment.

F. No entertainer shall solicit, demand, or receive any payment or gratuity from any customer for any act prohibited by this chapter.

3. At any sexually oriented business, the following are required:

A. A sign, on which upper-case letters are at least two inches high and lower-case letters are at least one inch high, shall be conspicuously displayed in the common area at the principal entrance and shall read as follows:

THIS ADULT ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS IS REGULATED BY THE CITY OF TIFFIN, IOWA. ENTERTAINERS ARE:

1. Not permitted to engage in any type of sexual conduct or prostitution on the premises;

2. Not permitted to be unclothed or in such less than opaque and complete attire, costume, or clothing so as to expose to view any portion of the breasts below the top of the areola, or any portion of the pubic region, buttocks and/or genitals;

3. Not permitted to receive any payment or gratuity from any customer.

B. Neither entertainment nor any photograph, drawing, sketch, or other pictorial or graphic representation thereof displaying any specified anatomical area shall be visible from a public place.

C. The premises shall be equipped with overhead lighting of sufficient intensity to illuminate every place to which customers are permitted access at an illumination of not less than one foot-candle as measured at the floor level, and such illumination must be maintained at all times that any customer is present in or on the premises.

2010 Code (city website file), in force from August 11, 2010 · source page

Confirmed by the city's current text: the 2026 draft recodification (August 2026, not adopted) has the same words (§ 125.03, p. 262), apart from minor wording.

In the 2026 draft (a comparison with a draft, not adopted): § 125.03 — wording changed, minor wording · compare

History

FromToSourceHowDocument
Aug 11, 2010today 2010 Code base text · text p. 4

Dates: an Iowa ordinance takes effect when it is published after adoption. Where the clerk's certificate records the publication date it is used; otherwise the adoption date stands in for it. "Not yet consolidated" means the ordinance amends this section but its new text has not been checked into this compilation yet: read the ordinance.

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Data last updated October 22, 2026. Built from the archive's documents; see how the data is built.