08/18/2026
Recently some questions regarding my presence at a local event have been raised on another local page.
I appreciate and welcome questions and would like to clarify the Police Department's role and how the City's ordinances are applied.
Our attendance at a community event should not be interpreted as a legal determination, endorsement, or approval of every activity, statement, organization, or individual present. As Police Chief, I attend many events in our community. My responsibility at those events is the same regardless of the organization involved: public safety and the fair and impartial enforcement of the law.
There appears to be some confusion regarding the City's adult-entertainment ordinance.
Chapter 4 of the Ashland City Code regulates adult businesses and adult-entertainment businesses. Its provisions establish licensing requirements and operating standards for those businesses, their managers, servers, and entertainers. The fact that certain terms within that chapter reference a "public place" should not be read by itself as establishing that any performance occurring in a public park is therefore an adult-entertainment business subject to Chapter 4. Law enforcement must consider an ordinance as a whole, including its definitions, scope, and the conduct it actually prohibits. We cannot select one phrase from an ordinance and apply it outside that context.
More importantly, the Police Department does not determine whether speech, expression, an organization, or an event is acceptable based upon whether we personally agree or disagree with its message. Our responsibility is to determine whether observable conduct provides a lawful basis for enforcement under city ordinance or state law.
That standard applies to everyone.
If conduct at an event violates an applicable law, it should be addressed in the same manner as the same conduct at any festival, political rally, religious gathering, concert, protest, or any other event. Likewise, conduct that does not violate the law cannot become a police matter simply because some members of the community find it objectionable.
I wholeheartedly agree citizens are entitled to ask what standards their government applies, and those standards should be applied fairly and consistently. From the Police Department's perspective, that standard is straightforward: we enforce the law based on conduct and the facts presented to us, not the identity, beliefs, political viewpoint, religion, or message of the people involved.
If anyone believes a specific provision of the Ashland City Code was violated at any event, I welcome them to identify the specific conduct and ordinance they believe applies and bring that information to the Police Department. We will review it just as we would any other allegation of an ordinance violation.
That is the standard I expect of the Ashland Police Department, and it is the standard we will continue to apply going forward.
Chief Scott Young
Ashland, Missouri PD
