Rowan County, NC Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Section 16-42(f) states that no person shall smoke in any structure or place in any park where smoking is prohibited, and that smoking may be forbidden by the commission or its authorized agent in any part of any park when it is deemed the fire hazard makes such action advisable. ,' also bars anyone within the confines of a park from throwing away or discarding a lighted match, cigarette, cigar or other burning object without it being entirely extinguished first. It sits alongside Section 16-42(e), which limits open fires in parks to designated fire spots, requires continuous adult supervision of any fire, and bars anyone under 16 from tending one alone, and Section 16-42(d), which bars bringing an explosive or explosive substance into a park.

Because the ban is tied to postings and fire-hazard determinations rather than a blanket park-wide prohibition, smoking itself is not automatically illegal in every part of a Rowan County park; the commission designates where it is off-limits and posts that designation, consistent with Section 16-48's requirement that signs and notices in parks come from the commission.