Topeka, KS Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

010: eliminating smoking in public places and places of employment because the right to breathe smoke-free air outranks the choice to smoke. 020 defines "smoking" to include electronic cigarettes, vaping devices and any device burning vegetation, so vape pens draw the same ban as cigarettes. An "enclosed area" is defined as space bounded by walls or windows from floor to ceiling, but the code carves out two exceptions that explain why patios are naturally exempt: areas with no roof at all, and areas with a roof but at least 80 percent of the perimeter wall permanently open to the weather.

030 lists 16 categories of enclosed public places where smoking is flat prohibited, including elevators, restrooms, retail stores, galleries, health care facility waiting rooms and apartment building common areas, but subsection (g) carves the outdoor-dining exception out of the food-service and licensed-premises ban, and subsection (h) layers the 10-foot buffer on top of every exempted or nonexempted building alike. 070 separately exempts private residences (unless run as day care or health care), up to 20 percent of hotel or motel rooms, smoke shops, outdoor workplaces and other private places outright. 080.