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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Catfight Over Brothel Sale

LAS VEGAS (CN) - Nye County is trying to rid the county of its legal brothels "by attrition," the owner of the famed Chicken Ranch claims in Federal Court. Kenneth Green says county officials illegally blocked the sale of his Ranch to a Texas man because the buyer had not been a Nevada resident for 6 months.

It's the second lawsuit over the attempted sale of the brothel 60 miles west of Las Vegas.

The Nye County Board of Commissioners oversees the county's legal brothel system, and requires brothels obtain licenses.

Green says elected officials overstepped their authority in blocking the June 19, 2007 sale of the Chicken Ranch to Texas resident Bruce Kahn on the grounds that he had not been a Nevada resident for at least 6 months before the purchase. Kahn filed a similar lawsuit in Federal Court in March.

Green also accuses the county of refusing to allow the transfer of the license to Debbie Rivenburgh, who oversees the brothel's daily operations, because she "did not have enough personal funds to operate the Chicken Ranch on her own."

Nevada state law allows counties with fewer than 400,000 residents the option to devise a system of legal, licensed brothels.

Green seeks declaratory judgment, an injunction permitting the sale, and punitive damages. He is represented by Allen Lichtenstein.

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