McHenry County, IL Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

McHenry County adopted its Smoking Policy (Res. R-200711-12-282, passed 12-20-2007) to carry out the Illinois Smoke Free Illinois Act (Public Act 95-0017) on every County-owned or leased facility and vehicle. 030 states the county's intent to fully enforce the Act and to eventually operate a smoke-free campus around its buildings. 050(D) requires that any exterior ashtray sit at least 15 feet from a County facility, with a "no smoking beyond this point" sign posted at the ashtray. 050(I) makes that 15-foot buffer the hard rule for the property as a whole: smoking is prohibited within a minimum distance of 15 feet from entrances, exits, operable windows, and ventilation intakes at every County-owned or leased building, regardless of the building's layout.

Outside that buffer, the county designates specific Designated Smoking Areas for employee use, and those areas must be posted so employees know where they may smoke; a personal vehicle qualifies as a designated area so long as it is not parked within the restricted zone. 050(E) separately bans smoking inside any County-owned or leased vehicle or equipment outright, with no distance exception. Enforcement runs through Court Security, on-site security personnel, or County staff: a member of the public smoking in violation is first given a verbal request to stop, and continued refusal is handled as a violation of the Act itself. 050(H).