Riverside County, CA Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Riverside County Code § 8.152.030
- Scope
- All county-owned or leased property
- First offense
- $25 infraction
- Second offense
- $50 infraction
- Third+ offense
- Misdemeanor, up to $1,000 or 6 months
- Exception
- Posted smoking areas only
- Adopted
- Ord. 866 (2007), amended Ord. 866.1 (2017)
Summary
Smoking of tobacco and cannabis is banned on all county-owned or leased property in unincorporated Riverside County, indoors and outdoors, except in areas the facilities management director designates and posts as smoking areas. The rule covers county buildings, parks, parking lots and other land appurtenant to county facilities; violators face escalating fines starting at $25.
"Smoking" means the carrying or holding of a lighted pipe, cigar or cigarette of any kind, or any other lighted smoking equipment or the lighting or emitting or exhaling the smoke of a pipe, cigar or cigarette of any kind. ... Smoking is prohibited on all county property, whether enclosed or unenclosed, except in a smoking area. The smoking of cannabis is prohibited on all county property, whether enclosed or unenclosed. ... Any violation of this chapter is deemed an infraction, punishable by a fine of twenty-five dollars ($25.00). A second violation of this chapter shall be punishable by a fine of fifty dollars ($50.00). The third and any additional violations perpetrated by the same person shall constitute a misdemeanor offense and shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or six months in jail, or both.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 84 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
152, adopted by Ordinance No. 866 in 2007 and amended by Ordinance No. 1 in 2017, prohibits smoking on any building or structure owned, leased or otherwise operated by the county, plus the land appurtenant to that building or structure. 030 bans smoking 'whether enclosed or unenclosed' and separately bans cannabis smoking on the same terms, closing a gap the original tobacco-only ban left open before the 2017 amendment. 020 as carrying or holding a lighted pipe, cigar or cigarette, or lighting, emitting or exhaling smoke from one; the definition targets combustible tobacco and does not, by its own terms, reach vaping devices.
152 extends the reach outdoors onto county-owned grounds such as park land, libraries and county office parking lots. 050; those signs must be at least seventeen by twenty-two inches, with lettering at least one inch tall, placed in plain view from the property or building entrance, and must state the fine before any citation may be issued. Because the rule reaches only property the county itself owns, leases or operates, it does not apply within the county's 28 incorporated cities, such as Riverside, Palm Springs, Temecula or Moreno Valley, each of which sets its own smoking rules for parks and public places on land those cities control.
Violations & Fines
A first violation of Chapter 8.152 is an infraction carrying a $25 fine under Section 8.152.060, but only after the property has been posted with a sign warning of that fine per Section 8.152.050. A second violation within the chapter raises the fine to $50. A third or later violation by the same person becomes a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in county jail, or both.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I smoke in a county park in Riverside County?
Does this ban apply inside the city of Riverside or Palm Springs?
What is the fine for a first smoking violation?
Does the ban cover vaping or e-cigarettes?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Riverside County
California rules heatmap·Compare Riverside County to another location·View the California public conduct overview
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