Crime-ridden strip club files lawsuit against Tarrant County after officials pull permit
Temptations Cabaret has filed a federal lawsuit against Tarrant County and its top officials.
In a complaint submitted to the Texas Northern District Court on July 14, lawyers for the club claim Tarrant County is violating the patrons’ First Amendment right to “receive the constitutionally protected expression” offered by Temptations.
The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office received received 134 calls for service from the club in 2022. Since 2018, four people have been shot and killed at Temptations. Last week, a man who fatally shot two people at Temptations in 2018 was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Those who live near the club, which is across the Fort Worth city limit at 12291 Camp Bowie West Blvd., submitted 33 public comments to the commissioners court during a May 16 meeting asking for the club to be shut down.
The county’s sexually oriented business board responded by pulling Temptation’s sexually oriented business permit in June on the grounds that the club was within 1,000 feet of residences. The board also instituted new rules regarding how long sexually oriented businesses can stay open and what time they need to have their parking lots cleared.
In Texas, some strip clubs operate as BYOB, or bring your own beverage. As a result, they are not subject to the regulations that come with alcohol permitting. Dancers are not allowed to perform topless if the club has a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission permit.
In the lawsuit, lawyers for Temptations also argue the new sexually oriented business rules were targeted toward the club.
“Under this content-based regulation, sexually oriented businesses must shut down between 1 a.m. and 10 a.m.,” the complaint reads. “However, fast food restaurants, diners, non-adult nightclubs, drugstores, bars, convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores, non-adult bookstores and other retail businesses that do not offer constitutionally protected sexually oriented expression are not required to close.”
The complaint reads that the club had also worked to make sure patrons and neighbors to the site were safe.
“Despite having the security measures in place and demonstrating its commitment to the safety of its patrons and neighbors, Tarrant County responded with a litany of measures openly and expressly targeted at closing down this business,” the court complaint reads.
Lawyers for the club wrote in the complaint they had filed suit to “prevent the irreparable harm” new regulations may have on the club, its employees, its patrons and its dancers.
The state had previously filed a public nuisance lawsuit against Temptations on behalf of district attorney Phil Sorrells in an attempt to permanently close the club.
Tarrant County filed a motion to dismiss the federal lawsuit Friday, writing in a filing that Temptations was “tolerating rampant crime” and that the new regulations were designed for crime at all sexually oriented businesses in the county.
Commissioners will discuss the case in closed session during their Tuesday meeting.
This story was originally published July 31, 2023 at 1:26 PM.
