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CHAPTER 23-20.6 Smoking in Public Places
§ 23-20.6-1 Legislative intent. – The use of tobacco for smoking purposes is being found to be increasingly dangerous, not only to the person smoking, but also to the non-smoking person who is required to breathe such contaminated air. The most pervasive intrusion of the non-smoker's right to unpolluted air space is the uncontrolled smoking in public places. The legislature intends, by the enactment of this chapter, to protect the health and atmospheric environment of the non-smoker by regulating smoking in certain public areas.
§ 23-20.6-2 Smoking prohibited in certain public areas – Smoking sections in eating facilities.
(a) Smoking tobacco in any form is a public nuisance and dangerous to public health and shall not be permitted in any of the following places used by or open to the public: the state house, elevators, indoor movie theaters, libraries, art galleries, museums, concert halls, auditoriums, buses, primary, secondary or postsecondary school buildings, colleges and universities (including dormitories), and public hallways in court buildings, hallways of elderly housing complexes, supermarkets, medical offices, and hospitals.
(b) The proprietor or other person in charge of a public area listed in subsection (a) shall make reasonable efforts to prevent smoking and shall post no smoking and warning signs conspicuously in these areas.
(c) Any person who violates this chapter shall be deemed to be contributing to the maintenance of a public nuisance in a public place and shall be subject to a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00), nor more than five hundred dollars ($500), which shall be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the attorney general in any court of competent jurisdiction. Each day the violation is committed or permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense and shall be punishable as such. Any penalty assessed and recovered in an action brought under this subsection shall be paid over to the general treasurer and added to the general fund.
(d) This section does not prohibit smoking in the areas listed in subsection (a) if the smoking is confined to areas separated from those used by the general public and identified by signs as smoking areas.
(e) (1) Eating facilities with a seating capacity of fifty (50) or more persons shall have separate seating for nonsmokers and smokers. For purposes of this section, an "eating facility" shall mean any building, structure, room, or area maintained as, or held out to the public as, an enclosure where meals are served for consideration of payment; excluded, however, are bars, nightclubs, lounges, dance clubs, and privately sponsored social affairs. Appropriate arrangements shall be made to ask patrons their preference for the nonsmoking or smoking section prior to being seated.
(2) The proprietor or person in charge of the eating facility shall post signs as follows:
(A)At the entry stating that the establishment is required by law to have a no-smoking section; and (B) In the smoking sections identifying the area.
(3) The department of health is hereby authorized to adopt rules and regulations necessary for the implementation and enforcement of this subsection.
§ 23-20.6-3 Severability. – If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this chapter is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct, and independent provision and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions thereof.
§ 23-20.6-4 Signs. – Signs required by this chapter may be provided by the state department of health at cost.