(Amy Alonzo | Mason Valley News) – Lyon County voters resoundingly told county commissioners they want to keep the county’s five brothels up and running. Responding to an advisory question on the November ballot, about 17,000 voters told commissioners to keep the brothels open while just 4,000 said they wanted them to close. County commissioners have not yet taken any action on the matter.
The issue came to a head after the anti-prostitution and sex trafficking group No Little Girl filed a petition to place a referendum on the county’s ballot giving voters the option of outlawing brothels or freezing the county’s brothel ordinance. Commissioners opted to place their own question on the ballot to prevent the county’s brothel ordinance from possibly being frozen.
There are four brothels in Lyon County, all in the Mound House area. Their owner, Dennis Hof, died in October, but Hof’s associates formed the Nevada Brothel Association earlier this month. Suzette Cole, who is managing Hof’s Lyon County brothels, was named director. The group plans to fight a proposed bill in the upcoming legislative session that aims to end legal prostitution in Nevada. Sen. Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, has drafted a bill that addresses legalized prostitution and the issue of human trafficking.