Knox County, TN Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Sec. 27-16 of the Knox County Code, adopted by Ord. No. O-21-7-103 on August 23, 2021, bans the use of tobacco products and vapor products on the grounds of a public park, public playground, public greenway, or any public property accessible to youth, so long as Knox County owns or controls that property. The ban covers open grounds, athletic fields, and pavilions, but the code carves out buildings, sidewalks, and roads within those properties, so a person on a paved county road running through a park is outside the prohibition.

The section defines four terms that control how far the ban reaches: a greenway is either an open-space linear corridor for recreation, transportation, and conservation, or a paved, gravel, woodchip, or wood-covered connector path, and if a greenway runs through a county-owned park it is treated as part of that park unless the county commission designates otherwise. A playground is any indoor or outdoor facility intended for children's recreation. A tobacco product is any product containing tobacco intended for human use, reaching vapor and e-cigarette devices as well as cigarettes and cigars.

Youth means anyone under 21. The ordinance sits in Chapter 27, the parks chapter, so its enforcement runs through Sec. 27-13: the parks director, park employees, and members of the Knox County Sheriff's Department may eject from the park any person violating this chapter's provisions, rules, or the county sports code of conduct. Because Sec. 27-16 sets no specific fine, a violation falls back to the Code's general penalty, Sec. 00 per separate violation and treats each day of continued violation as a separate offense, with the amount fixed at the general sessions judge's discretion.