Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2004 | 9:25 a.m.
A former brothel prostitute and ex-candidate for Congress wants to enact a prostitute's bill of rights in Nye County.
Jessi Winchester says she has formed an organization of 90 prostitutes to weigh in on the revision of the county's brothel ordinance, which is currently under way by order of the county commission.
Winchester wants to add to county law a few guarantees of the rights of brothel prostitutes, rules that would prevent brothel owners from taking half of the money they earn from their work and allow prostitutes the right to turn down customers.
Most importantly, she wants to end the widespread practice of prohibiting prostitutes from leaving brothel property for weeks at a time.
"Ever since brothels have been legal in some counties in Nevada, the interests of brothel owners have been represented, but the ladies who do the work have been silent," Winchester, who lives in Carson City, said on Tuesday.
But representatives of the brothel industry dismissed Winchester as a publicity-seeking gadfly and said her suggestions were unworkable.
Winchester said she has submitted drafts of six proposed new provisions for the ordinance to the Nye County district attorney's office, which she said had not responded to her communications.
Nye County, which has the largest concentration of legal brothels in the state -- and, for that matter, the United States -- ignited a fuss last month when commissioners talked about outlawing the houses of ill repute there.
Instead, the board voted to have the district attorney revise the county's ordinance governing the brothels.
Winchester's six proposals would:
"These are issues of constitutional rights as well as health and safety," Winchester claimed.
Historically, she said, prostitutes have not had enough clout to negotiate demands with brothel owners. "There are a lot more working girls than there are spots in the brothels, so the owners basically say, 'If you don't like it, hit the streets,"' she said.
But industry figures said Winchester's ideas reflected outdated perceptions of the way brothels work.
George Flint, lobbyist for the Nevada Brothel Association, who has tangled and won with Winchester in disputes in northern Nevada counties, called her a "troublemaker" and a "flat-out liar."
"She doesn't have any real understanding of the industry, from the girls' perspective or the industry perspective," Flint said, noting that Winchester had not worked in brothels for a decade.
Winchester said she worked at brothels including the now-defunct Mustang Ranch in Storey county, and Lyon County's Moonlite Bunny Ranch from 1989 to 1995. In 1996, she finished second in the 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary. Switching parties, she ran as a Republican for lieutenant governor in 1998, finishing third of nine primary candidates.
Winchester is asking for trouble by trying to shake up the practices that have been "proven through the years as the way to regulate and control the business," Flint said.
Joe Richards, owner of two Nye County brothels, said Winchester's claims were baseless. "Has she worked for me?" he asked. "Then how does she know what goes on in my house?"
Prostitutes have an absolute right to reject customers and their personal property is never confiscated, except for weapons and drugs, Richards said.
As for allowing prostitutes to leave when they are not on shift, Richards said such a measure would imperil public health.
"Who knows what she's going to be doing when she's not here," he said. "We couldn't regulate the industry if we had girls coming and going. That's why it is the way it is. That's why the industry doesn't have any sexually transmitted diseases."
Currently, prostitutes are tested for STDs as a requirement for licensing and once a week during their stints at the brothels, which usually last a few weeks to a month.
Winchester said requiring prostitutes to stay at the brothels for weeks at a time was the equivalent of keeping them under lockdown and said fears about spreading disease were unwarranted.
"When you work a 12-hour shift, you head home and take a shower, cook a meal and go to bed, because you're tired," she said. "You're not out partying and turning tricks on the street."
Prostitutes suffer from society's prejudices against them, Winchester said. "It's a legal business, and the women should be treated no different from women who work at Bank of America," she said. "You put in your time and go home."
Kenneth Green, owner of the Chicken Ranch Brothel outside Pahrump, said Winchester was welcome to contribute to the debate, but her ideas were unrealistic.
"I'd love to hear the ladies' input -- they're an important part of our business," Green said. "But I don't think she's representing the ladies."
Nye County commissioners and district attorneys could not be reached on Monday as a commission meeting was being held.
No public hearings have yet been held on revising the brothel ordinance. Last month, commissioners and the county sheriff said they wanted more specific regulations, more enforcement power and more tax money from the brothels.
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