No action taken on Wichita smoking ban restraining order

0 | Tobacco

— A Sedgwick County District Court judge on Thursday took no action to end a temporary restraining order that is preventing the new statewide smoking ban from being enforced here.

Judge Jeffrey Goering “took the matter under advisement,” according to a court spokeswoman, and did not say when he would rule on the matter.

Sedgwick County District Court Judge Eric Yost issued the restraining order the week before the statewide law banning smoking in most public places took effect on July 1.

The law bans smoking in most workplaces, bars and restaurants. A handful of other businesses, such as certain private clubs, tobacco shops and casino gaming floors, are exempt.

Some bar and bingo operators have said their business would drop dramatically, if smoking were no longer allowed.

Wichita’s smoking ordinance, in effect since 2008, allows establishments to purchase “smoker friendly” licenses. To obtain a license, the business must prohibit minors and pay a $250 licensing fee. Businesses also can establish separate “smoking rooms” in restaurants with similar requirements.

Attorneys challenging the state law have said that the additional restrictions on minors, among other things, make the Wichita ordinance stricter than state law and therefore should supersede it. The Attorney General’s Office, in defense of the state law, has said the local ordinance is less restrictive than the statewide ban.

“The Wichita ordinance is not, by and large, a smoking ban,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Tim Riemann in a court filing. “Rather, the ordinance provides every for-profit in Wichita a road map via which each can permit smoking and does not in any way restrict smoking at any entity that is not a for-profit business.”

The Sedgwick County restraining order was granted until the court could rule on the arguments. Trial has been set for Aug. 30.

The case is unrelated to a separate temporary injunction granted in Shawnee County District Court in late June that has stopped enforcement of the ban in some class A and B private clubs.





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