McLean County, IL Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Section 282-5C sits in the Swimming; Use of Glasener Beach part of the county park code and applies specifically to F. Russell Glasener Beach on Evergreen Lake at Comlara Park, the only place in the county park system where swimming is authorized under § 282-5A. The subsection permits food consumption on the beach but draws two hard lines around it: no glass products or materials may be on the sand, and smoking is prohibited outright, with no exception written into the text. The ban sits alongside the beach's reservation system in § 282-5D, under which groups can reserve exclusive use of the beach for a park-hours block from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, so both drop-in visitors and reserving groups are bound by the same no-smoking rule.

The broader chapter reinforces the no-fire theme found at the beach: § 282-3F already bars open fires except in approved grills anywhere in a county park, so lighters and matches brought for smoking cannot be repurposed for a grill fire. McLean County Department of Parks and Recreation site managers, rangers, and county law enforcement officers patrol Glasener Beach and can enforce the smoking ban on the spot. A violation of § 282-5C, like any other Chapter 282 violation, is punishable under § 282-14C by a fine of up to $500, and staff may order a smoker to leave the beach immediately under § 282-14B.

The rule reaches only the beach itself, sand included; it does not extend county-wide to every park or trail, none of which carry a parallel smoking ban in this chapter.