Contra Costa County, CA Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Section 445-4.004 lists the places within the unincorporated county where smoking is banned outright: enclosed places of employment and public places, service areas such as bank teller lines and bus stops, and a twenty-foot buffer around the doors, windows, and ventilation systems of both. Outdoors, the ban reaches outdoor dining areas at bars and restaurants, outdoor lounges and dining areas at any workplace, public trails and public parks, and public event venues. The definition of 'smoking' in Section 445-2.006(s) covers inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted or heated cigar, cigarette, pipe, hookah, electronic smoking device, or any plant product intended for inhalation, and the definition of 'smoke' expressly includes tobacco smoke, vapor from electronic smoking devices, and marijuana smoke.

The same section extends the ban into multi-unit housing: all common areas (halls, pools, carports, laundry rooms), all balconies, porches, decks, patios and carports of multi-unit residences, a twenty-foot buffer around a multi-unit building's doors and vents, and every individual dwelling unit in a multi-unit residence, unless the lease already allows smoking or the unit is owner-occupied under the transition rule in Section 445-4.006. Buildings, vehicles, and outdoor grounds owned or leased by the county, including hospital and health clinic grounds, are separately smoke-free under Section 445-4.002. Property owners and businesses must post 'No Smoking' signs with letters at least one inch tall under Section 445-4.008.