Waukesha, WI Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)
Key Facts
- Near City building entrances/windows
- Smoking barred at reasonable distance
- City parks
- Barred where Parks Dept. posts no-smoking
- Smoker fine
- $100 to $250 per violation
- Person-in-charge fine
- $100 per violation, capped daily
- 2026 update
- Vaping devices added, Ord. 2026-3, 5/5/2026
Summary
Waukesha bars smoking outdoors near entrances, windows and vents of any City-owned building, in city parks temporarily posted no-smoking by the Parks Department, and on any City property posted no-smoking by the City Administrator, on top of the standard indoor workplace ban.
No person may smoke at any of the following outdoor locations: ... A location that is less than a reasonable distance from any of the following places so as to prevent smoke from entering a City owned building: outside an entrance to any City owned building; outside an operable window of any City owned building; outside a ventilation system of any City owned building. In those portions of city owned parks temporarily posted as no smoking areas by the Park, Recreation and Forestry Department. On city owned property that is posted as no smoking by the City Administrator or his or her designee.
Full Breakdown
09 defines smoking to include lit cigars, cigarettes, pipes, any other lit smoking equipment, and electronic vaping devices under Wis. 65(1a)(b). Beyond the enclosed-place ban covering restaurants, taverns, retail stores and every indoor area of a city building, the outdoor list bars smoking at a location less than a reasonable distance from an entrance to any City-owned building, from an operable window of a City-owned building, or from its ventilation system, so the smoke cannot drift inside. It further bars smoking in portions of city-owned parks that the Park, Recreation and Forestry Department has temporarily posted as no-smoking areas, on City-owned property the City Administrator or a designee has posted no-smoking, and on any School District of Waukesha property posted no-smoking.
Separate outdoor bans cover child care center grounds while children are present and areas within 25 feet of a University of Wisconsin System residence hall. A 'person in charge' of a covered location must post signs, refuse service to a smoker in a restaurant, tavern or private club, ask a smoker to stop or leave, and call law enforcement if the person refuses; failing those steps is its own violation. The 2026 amendment (Ord. 2026-3) added vaping devices to the definition of smoking and extended the outdoor ban to posted School District of Waukesha property, effective May 5, 2026.
Violations & Fines
Smoking in a prohibited enclosed or outdoor location under § 11.09(2) carries a forfeiture of $100 to $250 per violation. A person in charge who fails to enforce the no-smoking rules under § 11.09(3)(b) through (d) faces a $100 forfeiture per violation, but gets a warning notice instead of a citation the first time, and cannot be made to forfeit more than $100 total for all such violations occurring on a single day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is vaping covered by Waukesha's smoking ban?
Can I smoke in a Waukesha city park?
What is the fine for smoking near a City building entrance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Waukesha
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