Clackamas County, OR Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

The Tobacco Use chapter defines SMOKING broadly to include using, inhaling, exhaling, burning or carrying any smoking instrument, or lighted or heated cigar, cigarette, pipe, weed, plant, or other tobacco like product or substance in any manner or in any form, including the use of electronic smoking devices which create vapor (Code 6.04.020(D)), so vaping and e-cigarettes are covered the same as traditional smoking. A COUNTY FACILITY is any enclosed space the county owns, leases, or rents, including buildings, meeting rooms, elevators, stairways and county-operated vehicles (6.04.020(A)). Code 6.04.010 states the purpose is to keep county buildings free of tobacco smoke and vapor for employees, clients, contractors and visitors, and to reduce cleaning, repair and fire-risk costs on county property.

Inside those facilities, smoking is banned outright; outdoors on county property, it is confined to a DESIGNATED SMOKING AREA that the county has posted with signage (6.04.020(B), 6.04.030(A)). Even in a designated outdoor area, a person cannot smoke within 25 feet of a county facility's entrances, exits, operable windows, or any ventilation intake serving an enclosed space (6.04.030(B)). Every county facility where smoking is prohibited must post a conspicuous sign saying so (6.04.030(C)), and smoking anywhere the chapter prohibits it is a violation under 6.04.040. The prohibition binds every category of person who sets foot on county property: employees, clients, contractors, volunteers and ordinary visitors alike.

This chapter's reach is limited to county-owned and county-operated property; it does not create a blanket ban on smoking at private restaurant patios or on public streets generally. County libraries add their own layer: Code 6.09.010(A)(5)(c) lists smoking among the disruptive behavior grounds for a warning notice, ejection, or exclusion from library property and privileges for up to ninety days.