Sacramento, CA Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Section 12.72.135, in the Parks, Park Buildings and Recreational Facilities chapter, states flatly in subsection A that "smoking is prohibited in parks," and subsection B bars disposing of any smoking material in a park "except in a designated waste disposal container." Subsection C carves out an exception: the parks director may authorize designated smoking areas within community parks or regional parks, and those areas must be "prominently marked with signs." Subsection D defines "parks" by cross-reference to § 12.72.010 but expressly excludes golf courses, the streets inside a park, and the sidewalks along a park's perimeter, and defines "smoking" broadly to include lighting, inhaling, exhaling, or burning any pipe, cigar, cigarette, weed, or plant, or carrying any lit or ignited combustible substance.

Enforcement is governed by § 12.72.020(C), which specifically names § 12.72.135 as a non-criminal offense on first violation: it "may be corrected by the bringing of a civil action by the city or the imposition of administrative penalties pursuant to chapters 1.28 and 5.90." That changes if the same person keeps offending, § 12.72.020(D) makes anyone who violates the parks chapter more than twice within a six-month period guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $1,000, incarceration up to six months, and probation with an order to stay away from the park or building where the last violation occurred. Section 12.72.020(F) authorizes department employees, park rangers, and city police officers to enforce the ban directly in the field.