Waukegan, IL Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

Section 15-10 folds the state Smoke-Free Illinois Act directly into city law and gives Waukegan Police its own enforcement hook. Subsection (c) sets the outdoor buffer that catches most complaints: smoking is barred 'within a minimum distance of 15 feet from entrances, exits, windows that open, and ventilation intakes that serve an enclosed area where smoking is prohibited,' so a smoker can't simply step just outside a bar or office door. Subsection (b) also bans smoking inside any vehicle the city owns, leases, or operates.

Beyond that mandatory buffer, subsection (f) lets 'any employer, owner, occupant, lessee, operator, manager, or other person in control of any public place or place of employment' voluntarily designate additional non-enclosed outdoor areas, including patios and courtyards, as no-smoking, as long as they post conspicuous signs. Private residences stay exempt from the whole section under subsection (g)(1), unless the home is used for licensed child care, adult day care, or another social-service business open to the public, in which case the outdoor buffer and indoor ban both apply.

The Waukegan Police Department enforces § 15-10 through administrative adjudication citations issued under Article VIII of Chapter 2 of the Code, giving the city a civil ticketing path that runs alongside whatever the state Act itself provides.