Twin Falls, Idaho - from www.magicvalley.com - No public record exists of complaints about adult stores Karnation and Enchantress, despite letters from Twin Falls Police stating that complaints spurred investigations into their possible sale of obscene materials.
The letters threatened action “up to and including arrest” if the stores did not comply with state law regarding the sale of obscene material, but didn’t specify which of the stores’ wares were obscene.
Instead, a cache of e-mails from city officials reveal a focus on the “Adult XXX” sign formerly on the front of Allen Nagel’s Smokin’ Head Smoke Shop and a variety of efforts to have it removed.
“It is my understanding that the sign complies with our sign ordinance and does not violate any state laws,” City Manager Tom Courtney wrote Nov. 16.
“If that is not correct, we need to discuss. I don’t think this is the kind of thing we want at the entrance to the city. The question is what can we do about it?”
More than a month before that e-mail, on Oct. 8, Mayor Don Hall received an e-mail complaint about the building’s signage and color. According to city communications, it would be about a month before further action was taken.
Officer Luke Allen wrote on Nov. 8 that he advised Nagel “that it was probably a good idea, from a community standpoint, if he didn’t draw any unwanted attention to his business.” Allen wrote that Nagel said he understood and “probably” would remove the sign.
Allen also made first note of Nagel’s adult videos and that “they are not visible from the outside or by anyone who shouldn’t be seeing them.”
Allen wrote a week later, after the city received another complaint about the Adult XXX sign, that it is not an actual violation of state code on profanity.
“Fritz (Wonderlich, the city attorney) basically said we can ask him to take it down, but we really can’t force him to remove it based on the profanity code,” Allen wrote Nov. 16, in response to the same e-mail as Courtney. He also made the first mention of Enchantress and Karnation. “If we get more complaints let me know and I’ll call Allen (Nagel) back and tell him we have gotten more complaints. The problem is that The Enchantress has XXX adds on the TV and Karnation sells stuff as well. This is gunna be a mess.”
Two days later, the Twin Falls Police Department drafted the letter to be sent to the three adult stores. Chief Jim Munn asked for it “to be more assertive,” leading to the addition of the threat of arrest.
When Munn asked to make the letter more assertive, Allen responded that he had some concerns to discuss with Wonderlich.
“This is not just going to be us against Allen Nagel, but could turn out to be us against the Porn industry,” Allen wrote on Nov. 19, adding that he wanted to see how other Idaho cities handle adult stores. “I think we need to not go in half cocked on this one or we may get bit in the ass.”
On Nov. 22, a city building inspector noted that the XXX portion of the sign had been removed, but only after Nagel had spoken with multiple police officers and four days after he asked the city for permission to keep his business open an hour later. That was the same date listed at the top of the letter from Twin Falls Police, though Nagel says he didn’t see it for days afterward.
In an interview Wednesday, Lt. Craig Stotts, speaking on behalf of the Twin Falls Police Department, said he didn’t know the origin of the complaints that instigated letters to Enchantress and Karnation or who they were directed to. He also said he hadn’t seen the e-mails sent by Allen.
“I don’t know where the complaints came from,” Stotts said. “I know that years past we had sent the businesses a letter because we had heard they were selling illegal material, adult material, pornographic material.”
He said the letter is all that has been sent to the three businesses and that he felt it was a very reasonable response.
