La Plata County, CO Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Section 38-5 of the La Plata County Code, Prohibited substances, sits in Chapter 38 (Public Places) and covers property owned or leased by La Plata County. It does not reach private patios or the parks and sidewalks of Durango, Bayfield or Ignacio, which set their own rules, and tribal trust land answers to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.

Two subsections carry the smoking rule. Subsection (I)(D) makes it unlawful to smoke in any building and within thirty (30) feet of the entrance to any building owned, or space leased, by La Plata County. That distance applies at every entrance, and it applies to leased space as well as county-owned buildings. Subsection (I)(E) is broader: it is unlawful to smoke on any property owned or leased by La Plata County, unless otherwise posted, including but not limited to any open space. The phrase unless otherwise posted means the county can post an area to allow smoking, and absent that posting the ban stands. Open space is named expressly, so trails and open-space parcels the county owns are inside the rule.

Section 38-5 does not itself define smoking, so the clauses use the ordinary meaning of the word.

The Board of County Commissioners adopted the section under C.R.S. 18-9-117, 30-11-101 and 30-15-401. Subsection (II) directs the county manager to post notice of the prohibition against smoking and prohibited substances on county property as deemed necessary or appropriate, following C.R.S. 18-9-117(2). The same section bans alcohol, marijuana and natural medicine on county property in subsections (I)(A) through (C). It took effect 2/14/2025 through Ordinance No. 2025-01, adopted 02/11/2025.