Rock County, WI Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

701, adopted under the authority of Wis. 123, prohibits smoking in any county-owned or county-leased building, workplace, or vehicle at all times. Beyond that indoor ban, the ordinance reaches outdoors: subsection (4)(b) prohibits smoking within thirty feet of any entrance of a county-owned or county-leased building or workplace, and the county backs that buffer with mandatory signage of uniform dimensions posted at doorway entrances under Wis. 123(2m) and (6). Two specific campuses get their own outdoor rules. At UW-Rock County, subsection (4)(c) bars smoking within the buildings, within thirty feet of any building, or within designated nonsmoking areas of the campus grounds.

At Rock Haven, the county's skilled nursing facility, subsection (4)(d) prohibits smoking within the building or anywhere on the campus area, defined as the full perimeter surrounding the facility, indoors and outdoors alike, with no thirty-foot carve-out. The ordinance carries three exceptions: county-owned or leased residential rooms in assisted living facilities that are designated for smoking under Wis. 123(3)(i) and (j); private residences in county-owned or leased buildings unless separately designated smoke-free; and outdoor smoking areas that the County Board has specifically designated and approved.

701 through a repeal-and-recreate action (Res. No. 13-41-289, adopted April 25, 2013). It applies to county property and campuses, not to private businesses, parks, or sidewalks generally, so the reach is tied to buildings and grounds the county owns, leases, or operates, including the Rock Haven and UW-Rock County campuses specifically named in the text.