Winfield’s ban on smoking in publicly-utilized buildings goes into effect Friday even as opposition to the ordinance continues to linger among some bar and restaurant owners.
Partiers will be able to puff away into the New Year at local bars and clubs, but by the next day that will end. All local business are required to have a placard indicating their building is a smoke-free facility beginning Jan. 2. The signs can be bought or hand-made, city manager Warren Porter said.
Porter would not say how aggressively the new ordinance would be enforced in the immediate future.
"I’m not going to say that we’re just giving warnings, nor can I say that we want to be fining people," he said. "I think early on we’re going to be working more on educating the public and business owners as to how it all works."
A list of frequently asked questions pertaining to the ban can be found on the city’s Web site.
Some in opposition to the ordinance have suggested the ban might be challenged in court. Porter confirmed the city was contacted by an attorney seeking legal information about the smoking ordinance.
"There’s been no threat of action, so far," Porter said. "Just an inquiry into what we were doing."
City officials here were buoyed by a Harvey County judge’s decision last week to throw out a lawsuit seeking to overturn a smoking ban in Newton. The American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars groups filed a suit over a year ago arguing a smoking ban violated the state constitution.
A judge ruled the case had no merit, according to a report in the Newton Kansan.
Porter said the Newton ban is similar to the Winfield ordinance and that the judge’s decision confirmed Winfield officials’ belief that a ban is constitutional.
