New effort targets illegal prostitution in LV

For advocates of legalized prostitution in Las Vegas, it was like a scene out of a dream: a licensed brothel owner and a card-carrying prostitute openly holding court inside a casino on the Strip.

But Chicken Ranch owner Kenneth Green and his employee, a self-described "courtesan" named Alexis, weren't working during Friday's news conference in a Sahara banquet room, not working in the strict sense of the word anyway.

Green and Alexis were there to promote Regulated Management, a mostly Web-based enterprise the longtime brothel owner just launched to generate community discussion and bring an end to illegal prostitution in Las Vegas.

The company's Web site features poll questions, online petitions and links to send e-mails to state lawmakers. Each month, organizers plan to post a new "white paper" examining the negative effects of the illicit sex trade.

"It's no secret. It's a wide open, rampant criminal enterprise that's been allowed to operate in Las Vegas," Green said.

He hopes to generate enough public outcry to give lawmakers the "political cover" they need to take decisive action, though he would not say what action he recommends.

Instead, Green and company insisted that they are not advocating legalization or any other specific solution in Las Vegas. Much of what they had to say, however, strongly hinted at a push to open the city to legal brothels.

"I would love to see Las Vegas become ... the adult entertainment capital of the world," said Regulated Management board member Loretta Holt, who also works on behalf of many local adult-oriented businesses as executive director of the Sin City Chamber of Commerce.

"Legal prostitution isn't the problem in our society. It's illegal prostitution that's the problem," Green said.

Regulated Management spokesman Bob Fisher said the company and its Web site have been in the works nine months.

The mission is a daunting one. Illegal prostitution is "a multibillion-dollar industry in Las Vegas, and that's with a B, not an M," said Fisher, who has done public relations work for the Chicken Ranch since Green bought it in 1982.

Brothel industry lobbyist George Flint also sits on the new company's board.

Reached by phone at his Reno wedding chapel Friday, Flint said he met with state and local officials last year in hopes of floating a bill that would allow legal brothels in Clark County. The measure never saw the light of day.

Flint acknowledged he is a little fuzzy on the details of what Regulated Management aims to do, but he insists it's not a veiled attempt at publicity for the Chicken Ranch, as some have suggested.

Green freely admits that he is targeting his largest competitor, but he also views illegal prostitution as a threat to the community at large.

"Of course I have a vested interest," he said. "But does that take away from the fact that it's a legitimate issue?"

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.