KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- A Knoxville prostitution sting puts more than a dozen women in handcuffs, all charged with the illegal act. Police arrested 13 women late last week.

As in many cases, court records show this wasn' the firt time most faced prositution charges. Now, just days later, most are already out of jail, or on their way.

You can find a number of businesses at Broadway and Central Ave. You won't see a sign for it, but business owners say sex is being also sold right on these streets. It's one of ten spots Knoxville police say they targetted as part of prostitution sting last week.

Gil Lusk, the owner of Lusk Body Company, says prostitutes have set up shop outside his autobody shop for years.

"You'll see them on the sidewalk, and they'll give you the come hilther smile," Lusk said.

Andrew Jackson the Sixth, one of Knox County's General Session Court judges, says repeat offenders have become very common in prostitution cases.

He says most often prostiutions just a misdemeanor, and that means six months max in jail, longer if it happens by a church or school. However, Jackson says most serve only days to weeks.

"We usually see prostitution everyday, or at least 90 percent of the time. They'll be at least one prostitution case in court," Jackson said.

Jackson says that's because selling sex on the street's not the only problem. He says most of the time, drugs brought them to the corner.

So to get them off the street, Jackson says you'll have to get into drug treatment. So why doesn't Knoxville already do that?

"It's expensive we don't have the programs available. We have backlogs now trying to get people into treatment." The Sheriff's Department has instituted The Focused Alternative Treatment Program, which is a voluntary program for inmates. It encompasses substance abuse treatment, life skills, and a job skills curriculum.

Lusk credits the city for it's work revitilizing the area around his business and cracking down on prostitution.

"Maybe in time a new image will begin to evolve," Lusk said.

Of those arrested, and now being released, the Clerk of Courts says their charges have been dismissed or they were sentenced to time already served.