Carver County, MN Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- § 91.05(G)
- Buffer
- 25 feet from any indoor area
- Full ban zones
- creative play areas and beaches
- Covers
- tobacco, cannabis, hemp-derived products
- Added by
- Am. Ord. 105-2024, passed 5-21-24
- Enforced by
- Carver County Sheriff's Office
Summary
Carver County bans smoking and vaping tobacco, cannabis, or hemp products within 25 feet of any indoor area in a county park, and bans it entirely inside designated play areas and beaches.
Smoking and use of tobacco and cannabis. It shall be unlawful for any person to: (1) Smoke or use any tobacco product, cannabis flower, cannabis product, lower-potency hemp edible, or hemp-derived consumer product in or within 25 feet of any indoor area; or (2) Smoke or use any tobacco product, cannabis flower, cannabis product, lower-potency hemp edible, or hemp-derived consumer product inside the designated perimeter of any creative play area or beach.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2025 S-20: Supplement contains: Local legislation current through Ord. 111-2025, passed 7-25-25).
Full Breakdown
05(G)(1). Subdivision (G)(2) extends the ban to the designated perimeter of any creative play area or beach, meaning families using a splash pad, playground, or swimming beach at a park such as Lake Minnewashta Regional Park cannot smoke or vape anywhere inside that marked perimeter, even outdoors. The rule was added by the Board's 2024 update, Am. Ord. 105-2024, passed 5-21-24, which folded cannabis flower, cannabis products, and hemp-derived items into the county's existing tobacco restrictions following Minnesota's cannabis legalization. 05(A)(4), which separately bans smoking or using cannabis anywhere within county parks, including inside a parked vehicle.
10(A) and can cite or eject violators. Because this is a parks-chapter rule, it governs conduct on county park property specifically; it is not a general outdoor-smoking ban for unincorporated Carver County streets or sidewalks, and cities inside the county set their own smoking rules for their own parks and public spaces.
Violations & Fines
Violating the smoking or play-area restrictions in § 91.05(G) is a misdemeanor under § 91.99, referencing Minn. Stat. § 398.34 and § 609.02(3). Violating the broader § 91.05(A)(4) ban on smoking or using cannabis anywhere in a park, including in a vehicle, is instead a petty misdemeanor. Park rangers or deputies can eject offenders and issue a citation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I smoke on a bench outside a park building?
Is vaping cannabis allowed at a park beach?
What is the penalty for smoking too close to a park building?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Carver County
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