Village to Enforce Smoking Ban at the Municipal Level

The Village Board unanimously approved Tuesday a measure that adopts the state’s smoking ban, allowing the municipality to enforce the law at a municipal level.

John Barnes, who was the interim Police Chief at the time, asked for the authority to enforce the law at a municipal level to have uniformity between neighboring communities, to have cases heard in municipal court and so that the Village could collect part of the fine money.

The state law, which went into effect in July, prohibits smoking in “restaurants, taverns, private clubs, or retail establishments” and allows those entities “to designate an outside smoking area within a reasonable distance from any entrance to the establishment,” according to a Wisconsin Department of Justice memo dated July 2, 2010.

Currently the law is enforced at the state level, which means those cases would be prosecuted by the Racine County District Attorney’s office. The Village can now receive 50 percent of the base fine and the rest would go to the state. The citation for violating the law carries a $366 fine. The citation could be handed to the smoker and/or the tavern owner.

Police Chief Toby Schey said adopting the law on the local level also makes the law easier to enforce, but they have no plans on doing undercover investigations.