Kennewick, WA Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Kennewick Municipal Code § 10.08.040(2), the City Park Regulations, lists smoking and vaping as one of several park rules enforced as an infraction: "Tobacco products, including vaping, use is not permitted within 20 feet of park playgrounds and tot-lots." A "park" under 10.08.040(1)(a) means any public park, green space, or recreational area owned, leased, or maintained by the City, so the buffer applies at Columbia Park, Sunset Park and every other city-maintained playground, not just a single flagship site. The Director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities can set additional restrictions on park use, and the Kennewick Police or the Director may issue a park trespass notification, valid 30 to 365 days, against anyone with probable cause of committing an infraction or crime in a park.

Outside parks, Kennewick regulates outdoor smoking through Chapter 9.40, the Indoor Clean Air Ordinance. A "public place" under KMC 9.40.020(2) "includes a presumptively reasonable minimum distance, as set forth in KMC 9.40.070, of 25 feet from entrances, exits, windows that open, and ventilation intakes that serve an enclosed area where smoking is prohibited," and KMC 9.40.065 repeats that 25-foot standard for places of employment. A property owner may apply to the Benton Franklin Health District director to rebut the presumption with clear and convincing evidence that smoke will not reach the entrance at a shorter distance. Owners and lessees must post no-smoking signage at every building entrance under KMC 9.40.050, and retail stores must post it at each entrance and throughout the store.