Pender County, NC Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Pender County Code § 28-31 bans smoking, including electronic cigarettes, in any park area operated by unincorporated Pender County's parks and recreation department, carving out only the parking lot as the designated smoking area. The director of parks and recreation, or a designee, can go further and prohibit smoking across an entire park, parking lot included, whenever fire risk or weather conditions make it advisable, meaning the rule can tighten without notice on any given day. The ban sits in Chapter 28, Article II, Division 1, the general park-rules division that also covers alcohol, disorderly conduct and weapons, so it is enforced the same way those rules are.

Section 28-48 makes park personnel, their designees and any authorized law enforcement officer within their jurisdiction responsible for enforcement. A violation is a misdemeanor under G.S. 14-4, punishable on conviction by a fine of not more than $50.00 or imprisonment for not more than 30 days. Independently, the county can pursue a civil penalty of $100.00 per offense, recovered through a civil debt action under G.S. 153A-123(c) after a certified-mail demand for payment; if that demand goes unanswered or unresolved within 30 days, the matter can go to the county attorney.

A repeat violation raises the exposure to a civil penalty of up to $500.00 per offense under the same procedure, and each day a violation continues counts as a separate offense. The rule applies only to county-operated park areas in unincorporated Pender County, not to sidewalks, beaches or private property, and does not override separate smoking rules that may apply inside county buildings.