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

The county's smoke-free ordinance, enacted under Sec. 17-91 through 17-100 by the Durham County Board of Health with approval from the Board of County Commissioners, defines 'smoking' as using or possessing a lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe, or other lighted tobacco product, and folds e-cigarettes into the same prohibition. Sec. 17-93 lists 19 categories of covered ground, including Durham County grounds, Durham County trails and parks, city or county bus stops (with a 100-foot radius around the stop sign, excluding private property), sidewalks owned or maintained by the city or county, hospital grounds, child care facilities, polling places, public restrooms, and common areas of apartment buildings and condominiums.

Sec. 17-94 goes further for the county Human Services facilities and campus, banning all tobacco use, not just lighted products. The county must post signage meeting Sec. 17-96's requirements and remove ashtrays from covered grounds, and the health director appoints enforcement agents empowered to issue educational material and citations under Sec. 17-95. Nine narrow exceptions apply under Sec. 17-99, covering private residences, private vehicles, tobacco shops and cigar bars whose smoke does not migrate into a covered enclosed area, designated smoking rooms capped at 20 percent of a lodging establishment's rooms, and private clubs as defined by state law.