Folsom, CA Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- FMC 8.17.070
- Recreation-area smoking
- Prohibited citywide
- Designated-area buffer
- 50 feet from activity areas
- First-offense fine
- Up to $100
- Repeat fines
- Up to $200, then $500
- Enforcement
- Code enforcement officer, fire dept.
Summary
Folsom Municipal Code 8.17.070 bans smoking in every recreation area in the city, including parks, trails, sports fields and the American River Parkway pathways. The city or a private site operator may carve out one exception: a marked, fully unenclosed smoking area at least fifty feet from picnic areas, sports fields, food vendors or activity lines. Violators face escalating infraction fines under Section 8.17.110.
Smoking is prohibited in all recreational areas in the city, except the city or the private entity owning or controlling the recreational area may designate certain specified area where smoking is permitted if all the following criteria are met: 1. The designated area must be clearly designated and marked with smoking permitted signs. 2. The area must be at least fifty feet from any picnic areas, sports fields or improvements used for recreational activity, food vendors, lines for recreational activities in the recreational area. 3. The area must be completely unenclosed.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 1369, passed April 28, 2026).
Full Breakdown
17 defines "recreation area" broadly: parks, picnic areas, playgrounds, sports fields, open space, hiking and bike trails, outdoor pavilions such as the Historic District Plaza, the city zoo sanctuary, outdoor art spaces, benches and bus-stop shelters, covering the trail network along the American River Parkway that runs through the city. 040 separately bans smoking in all enclosed public places, city buses and taxicabs, day care and health care facilities, and common areas of apartments, condominiums and mobile home parks. 070 layers a specific ban onto every recreation area, unenclosed or not.
The parks and recreation director may designate a smoking area within a recreation area, but only if it is clearly marked with "smoking permitted" signs, sits at least fifty feet from picnic areas, sports fields, food vendors or activity lines, and is completely unenclosed; the director is not required to designate any such area and can weigh fire hazard and proximity to fields in deciding. The same fifty-foot buffer and unenclosed requirement apply to any city property hosting a permitted special event, where smoking is otherwise prohibited outright under subsection B. 100. 090.
Violations & Fines
Smoking where prohibited, or operating a regulated premises out of compliance, is an infraction under Section 8.17.110: up to $100 for a first violation, up to $200 for a second violation within a year, and up to $500 for each additional violation within that year. The code also classifies violations as a Level B administrative penalty and a public nuisance abatable through civil action, and lets any aggrieved person sue directly to compel compliance under Section 8.17.120.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I smoke on the American River Parkway trail in Folsom?
Does Folsom's smoking ban cover vaping?
Can Folsom hold a special event where smoking is allowed?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Folsom
California rules heatmap·Compare Folsom to another location·View the California public conduct overview
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How other cities in Sacramento County handle outdoor smoking restrictions.