Lincoln Municipal Code Chapter 8.20 prohibits smoking in indoor workplaces, restaurants, bars, and certain outdoor areas including patios near entrances, building doorways, and city park playgrounds and athletic fields.
LMC 8.20, building on Nebraska's Clean Indoor Air Act, prohibits smoking in indoor workplaces, restaurants, bars, hotels, and most public buildings. Lincoln extends restrictions to outdoor dining patios, within reasonable distance of public building entrances, and Parks and Recreation playgrounds, athletic fields, and public pools. The ordinance covers cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, vaping devices, and any combustion of tobacco. Property owners must post no-smoking signage at entrances and remove ashtrays from prohibited areas. Enforcement is by Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department and LPD.
Individual smokers face fines starting at $100 per offense; property owners failing to enforce or post signage face escalating fines, license review, and citations from LLCHD inspectors.
See how Lincoln's outdoor smoking restrictions rules stack up against other locations.
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