VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Adult entertainers and performers in Volusia County may soon need to get a special license or form of ID.
The county will discuss a proposal next week to require IDs for adult entertainment performers.
Volusia County council member Heather Post believes requiring adult performers to be licensed could help stop human trafficking.
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Daytona Beach Police and the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office are still going through the data, but neither recalled a human trafficking case in the last five years.
Both said victims are often reluctant to come forward.
The most recent human trafficking report from the U.S. Attorney General’s Office shows more than 10,000 calls to the trafficking hotline in 2018, up from 8,000 the year prior.
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It prosecuted 230 cases and charged 386 people.
A First Amendment attorney said it raises not only free speech, but privacy concerns.
Lawrence Walters with the Walters Law Group specializes in First Amendment rights and said the move could create a public database of performers that could be accessed by exes and stalkers or that could out them publicly as performers.
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Volusia County council members Danny Robins and Barbara Girtman said they want more time to review and research this matter before commenting, and the rest of the council was unable to be reached for comment.