Warwick, RI Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)
Key Facts
- Buffer zone
- 20 feet from any city beach
- First conviction fine
- $150 to $300, mandatory
- Second conviction fine
- $300 to $400, mandatory
- Third+ conviction fine
- $400 to $500, mandatory
- Alternate penalty
- 8+ hours beach litter pickup
- Adopted
- Ord. No. O-16-15, July 9, 2016
Summary
Warwick bans smoking or discarding tobacco waste on, or within 20 feet of, any public beach under city jurisdiction. Sec. 40-56 requires warning signs at beach entrances and sets mandatory misdemeanor fines starting at $150 for a first conviction and rising to $500 for a third or later offense, with a community-service alternative for hardship cases.
(a) No person shall smoke a cigarette, cigar, or other tobacco-related product on, or within 20 feet of any beach under the jurisdiction of the city. Signs giving notice of the prohibition and stating that police will take notice shall be posted along the beach and in the areas of approach to the beach. ... (c) Every person convicted of a violation of subsection (a) or (b) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a mandatory fine of not less than $150.00 nor more than $300.00 upon a first conviction; by a mandatory fine of not less than $300.00 nor more than $400.00 upon a second conviction; and by a mandatory fine of not less than $400.00 nor more than $500.00 upon a third or subsequent conviction.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 40's beach article opens with legislative findings (Sec. 40-54) citing EPA and CDC research on secondhand smoke and calling discarded cigarette butts the top pollutant on beaches, then defines smoking in Sec. 40-55 as inhaling, exhaling, or burning tobacco, or carrying lit smoking equipment. The operative rule, Sec. 40-56(a), bars smoking a cigarette, cigar, or other tobacco-related product on or within 20 feet of any beach under city jurisdiction, and requires the city to post signs along the beach and its approaches warning that police will take notice.
Subsection (b) applies the same 20-foot buffer to disposing of cigarette butts, cigar butts, or other tobacco waste. Subsection (c) makes any violation of either rule a misdemeanor carrying mandatory fines: not less than $150 nor more than $300 for a first conviction, $300 to $400 for a second, and $400 to $500 for a third or subsequent conviction. Subsection (d) lets a court add, as a condition of probation for a littering violation, a requirement to pick up litter on or within 20 feet of any city beach for at least eight hours, and subsection (e) allows a judge to substitute public community restitution on a city beach for the fine if paying it would be a hardship.
The article was adopted in full by Ord. No. O-16-15 on July 9, 2016, and Sec. 40-57 makes it control over any conflicting city ordinance.
Violations & Fines
A first conviction under Sec. 40-56 carries a mandatory fine of $150 to $300, a second carries $300 to $400, and a third or subsequent conviction carries $400 to $500, all classified as misdemeanors. Courts may add at least eight hours of beach litter pickup as a probation condition for the litter-disposal violation, or substitute community restitution on a city beach if the fine would be a financial hardship.
Frequently Asked Questions
How close to a Warwick beach can I smoke?
What's the fine for smoking on a Warwick beach?
Does flicking a cigarette butt on the sand count as a separate violation?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Warwick
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