Phoenix, AZ Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)
Key Facts
- Where it applies
- Posted parks and mountain preserve areas
- Trigger
- Director posts signs during fire risk
- Covers
- Cigarettes, vapes, hookah, marijuana
- Default penalty
- Class 1 misdemeanor, up to $2,500
Summary
Phoenix prohibits smoking or lighting a fire in any park or mountain preserve area where the Parks and Recreation Department has posted a no-smoking sign, a targeted tool the city uses to cut wildfire risk.
No person shall smoke or start a fire in a park or mountain preserve area where one or more signs are posted prohibiting such activity. The Director of the Parks and Recreation Department is authorized to post signs prohibiting smoking and fires in parks and mountain preserve areas when there is a risk of fire becoming uncontrolled due to dry vegetation or climatic conditions. "Smoke" or "smoking" means inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted or heated cigar, cigarette, pipe, hookah, or any other lighted or heated tobacco or plant product intended for inhalation, whether natural or synthetic, including marijuana/cannabis, in any manner or in any form. "Smoking" includes the use of an electronic smoking device which creates an aerosol or vapor, in any manner or in any form, or the use of any oral smoking device.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance G-7524, passed June 17, 2026).
Full Breakdown
City Code § 24-42 makes it unlawful to smoke or start a fire in a park or mountain preserve area wherever one or more signs are posted prohibiting it. The Parks and Recreation Director decides which parks and preserve areas get signage, and is specifically authorized to post it when dry vegetation or climatic conditions raise the risk of an uncontrolled fire, so the ban is sign-triggered and location-specific, not a blanket citywide prohibition. The definition is broad: "smoking" covers lit or heated cigars, cigarettes, pipes and hookahs, any tobacco or plant product including marijuana/cannabis, plus electronic smoking devices that create an aerosol or vapor.
Violations & Fines
Section 24-42 sets no violation-specific penalty, so it falls back to the Code's general penalty clause: a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to a $2,500 fine, six months in jail, or three years probation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is smoking banned in every Phoenix park?
Does the park smoking ban cover vaping?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Phoenix
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Outdoor Smoking Restrictions in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Maricopa County handle outdoor smoking restrictions.