The city-wide smoking ban that was passed by fewer than five percent of the registered voters in Springfield, Mo. is scheduled to go into effect Saturday, June 11 at 12:01 am. Whether or not that is the case will be decided by a local judge who expects to hand down a ruling on a request for a restraining order that would halt the city's intention to begin enforcing the new ordinance this weekend.
Associate Circuit Judge Jason Brown has heard motions concerning the proposed preliminary injunction to delay the enforcement of the ban until a ruling is made on a challenge to the law by a local bar owner. The assertion of the bar owner's challenge is that the local ordinance is countermanded by a state law permitting bars to designate non-smoking areas in their establishments.
A delay of the implementation of the ordinance wll have an impact on local business owners and city officials, who must wait for the ruling by Judge Brown, who may make his ruling as late as Friday afternoon, according to the Springfield News-Leader. The smoking ban will be enforced on a complaint basis: the city must receive a direct complaint in order to enforce the ban.
There is popular speculation concerning this enforcement policy and whether or not public officials and law enforcement personnel will be enforcing the ban through their own complaints or merely responding to complaints made by the public at-large. In any case, the local business owners and their clientele will be directly impacted by Judge Brown's ruling.
It is also a very real possibility that a repeal of the smoking ban will be proposed for the November ballot, which traditionally draws a higher voter turnout. Most people do not believe that this is the final chapter of the dispute over the city smoking ban that impacts smokers, non-smokers and the business owners who cater to both groups.
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