§2495b — Title 10 Armed Forces | U.S. Code

§2495b Sale or Rental of Sexually Explicit Material Prohibited

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— General Military Law › Part IV— SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROPERTY › Chapter 147— COMMISSARIES AND EXCHANGES AND OTHER MORALE, WELFARE, AND RECREATION ACTIVITIES › Subchapter III— MORALE, WELFARE, AND RECREATION PROGRAMS AND NONAPPROPRIATED FUND INSTRUMENTALITIES › § 2495b

Last updated Apr 3, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Defense must stop the sale or rental of sexually explicit material on property run by the Department of Defense. Service members and DoD civilian employees acting in their official jobs may not sell, rent, or accept money for sexually explicit material. The Secretary must set up a nine-member board to recommend whether items sold or planned for sale on DoD property should be banned. Six members will represent the people who shop at commissaries and exchanges, and one of those six will be the board chair. At least one appointee must have experience running or supporting military family programs and must be an eligible commissary/exchange patron. Each Secretary of a military department appoints one member. Vacancies are filled the same way. The Secretary may assign staff and must have military resale and legal advisors help at meetings. The board’s recommendations must be made public and the Secretary must announce how to find them. Board members may receive travel pay, including per diem, at the rates for employees under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5. The Secretary must write rules to carry out these requirements. Definitions (one line each): “Sexually explicit material” — audio, video, or periodicals with visual images whose main theme shows nudity, sexual or excretory activity, or sexual organs in a lascivious way. “Property under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense” — places like commissaries, Army and Air Force Exchange Service facilities, Navy Exchange Service Command and Navy Resale and Services Support Office facilities, Marine Corps exchanges, and ships’ stores.

Title 10, §2495b

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of Defense may not permit the sale or rental of sexually explicit material on property under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense.

(b)A member of the armed forces or a civilian officer or employee of the Department of Defense acting in an official capacity may not provide for sale, remuneration, or rental sexually explicit material to another person.

(c)(1)The Secretary of Defense shall establish a nine-member board to make recommendations to the Secretary regarding whether material sold or rented, or proposed for sale or rental, on property under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense is barred from sale or rental by subsection (a).

(2)(A)The Secretary of Defense shall appoint six members of the board to broadly represent the interests of the patron base served by the defense commissary system and the exchange system. The Secretary shall appoint one of the members to serve as the chairman of the board. At least one member appointed under this subparagraph shall be a person with experience managing or advocating for military family programs and who is also an eligible patron of the defense commissary system and the exchange system.

(B)The Secretary of each of the military departments shall appoint one member of the board.

(C)A vacancy on the board shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

(3)The Secretary of Defense may detail persons to serve as staff for the board. At a minimum, the Secretary shall ensure that the board is assisted at meetings by military resale and legal advisors.

(4)The recommendations made by the board under paragraph (1) shall be made available to the public. The Secretary of Defense shall publicize the availability of such recommendations by such means as the Secretary considers appropriate.

(5)Members of the board shall be allowed travel expense, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5 while away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of services for the board.

(d)The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations to implement this section.

(e)In this section:

(1)The term “sexually explicit material” means an audio recording, a film or video recording, or a periodical with visual depictions, produced in any medium, the dominant theme of which depicts or describes nudity, including sexual or excretory activities or organs, in a lascivious way.

(2)The term “property under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense” includes commissaries, all facilities operated by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the Navy Exchange Service Command, the Navy Resale and Services Support Office, Marine Corps exchanges, and ships’ stores.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2008—Subsecs. (c) to (e). Pub. L. 110–417 added subsec. (c) and redesignated former subsecs. (c) and (d) as (d) and (e), respectively. 2004—Pub. L. 108–375 renumbered section 2489a of this title as this section.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title III, § 343(b), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2490, provided that: “Subsection (a) of section 2489a [now 2495b] of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this section, shall take effect 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Sept. 23, 1996].” Resale Activities Review Board: Establishment and Initial Meeting Pub. L. 110–417, [div. A], title VI, § 642(b), Oct. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 4494, provided that: “(1) Establishment.—The board required by subsection (c) of section 2495b of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall be established, and its initial nine members appointed, not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 14, 2008]. “(2) Meetings.—The board shall conduct an initial meeting within one year after the date of the appointment of the initial members of the board. At the discretion of the board, the board may consider all materials previously reviewed under such section as available for reconsideration for a minimum of 180 days following the initial meeting of the board.”