Worcester, MA Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)
Key Facts
- Buffer distance
- 50 feet from entrances/exits
- Covered locations
- Municipal buildings, health care institutions
- Fine
- $25 per violation
- Enforcing officials
- Public Health Commissioner, Police Chief, ISD Commissioner
- Exception
- Transiting through the zone or leaving to extinguish
Summary
Worcester bans smoking within 50 feet of every municipal building entrance and exit, and within 50 feet of any health care institution's entrances and exits. Violators face a $25 fine under Chapter 8, Section 3(d) of the Revised Ordinances of 2008.
(d) Smoking Prohibited at Certain Entrances and Exits. Smoking is also hereby prohibited in the following: (1) Smoking shall be prohibited within fifty (50) feet of all municipal building entrance and exit ways, except that this prohibition shall not apply to an individual transiting through such fifty (50) foot area or to an individual approaching an entranceway with the intention of immediately extinguishing a tobacco product... Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection shall be fined $25.00. (2) Smoking shall be prohibited in the area within fifty (50) feet of any entrance and exit way of a health care institution located within the city of Worcester... Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection shall be fined $25.00.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 8, Section 3(d) of Worcester's Revised Ordinances of 2008 creates two separate 50-foot no-smoking buffers. The first covers every municipal building entrance and exit way; "municipal buildings" is defined broadly to include any building owned or leased by the city, its agencies and authorities, expressly naming City Hall, Union Station and all city libraries. c. 112. Both buffers carry a narrow carve-out: the prohibition does not apply to someone merely transiting through the 50-foot zone, or to someone approaching the entranceway with the intention of immediately extinguishing a tobacco product before entering.
c. 270, § 22). Both the workplace ban and the entrance/exit buffers are enforced through the same $25 civil fine structure, with the Commissioner of Public Health, the Police Chief and the Commissioner of Inspectional Services listed as enforcing officials for tobacco-use violations under Chapter 15, Section 2(11)(A) of the ordinances.
Violations & Fines
A first violation of the 50-foot entrance/exit smoking ban is a $25 civil fine, the same penalty that applies to smoking inside a municipal building. The Commissioner of Public Health, the Police Chief, or the Commissioner of Inspectional Services may issue the citation, and each day of continued violation can be treated as its own offense under the ordinance's general enforcement scheme.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I smoke right outside Worcester City Hall's door?
Does the 50-foot rule apply outside hospitals and doctor's offices?
What is the fine for smoking too close to a covered entrance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Worcester
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