Welcome to the website for the Multnomah County Smokefree Work and Public Places Law (MCC § 21.500 et seq.) This website has been designed to help employers, employees, and the public learn about the law and to implement it properly.

In Multnomah County, almost all workplaces and public places, including restaurants, are required to be smokefree in an effort to protect workers and the public from the known health dangers of secondhand smoke and to reduce tobacco related illness and death. The law also requires smokefree zones in outdoor areas around hospitals.

Background
The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners passed Ordinance 937 in 1999, creating the Smokefree Workplace Law, which went into effect on July 1, 2000.

In 2001, the law was amended through Ordinance 962. Ordinance 962 exempted billiard halls from the law; however, billiard halls must now be smokefree due to the Oregon Smokefree Workplace Law, effective January 2002. Ordinance 962 also added language to the law stating that OLCC-licensed bar areas must be smokefree during hours when minors are permitted.

Ordinance 1051, passed in September, 2004, added language to the law requiring hospital grounds to be smokefree within a minimum of 20 feet of doorways, operable windows, and air intake vents; hospitals can expand the smokefree zones to any distance greater than 20 feet.

Other Laws
The City of Portland passed Ordinance 178705 on August 25, 2004, which prohibits tobacco use in all private-for-hire vehicles, such as taxicabs and shuttle buses. Please call the City of Portland Bureau of Licenses at (503) 823-5157 for more information.

Revisions to the Oregon Clean Indoor Air Act, effective January 1, 2002, created a law across the state of Oregon that is very similar to the law in Multnomah County. When there are differences in the laws, the stronger law applies. For example, smoking is prohibited in bowling centers under the county law, even though Oregon law does not prohibit smoking in bowling centers. Although the county law does not regulate race courses, they are not exempt from the state law, so race courses must be smokefree in Multnomah County.