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Van Buren supervisors expand employee smoke-free rules but decline tobacco-free public-grounds ban
Summary
After a presentation by SAFE Coalition representatives, the board agreed to update the county employee smoke-free policy to cover county buildings and vehicles but decided not to adopt a tobacco- and nicotine-free policy for public use of county grounds.
Van Buren County supervisors on July 8 agreed to broaden the county’s employee smoke-free policy to explicitly make county buildings and vehicles smoke- and vape-free but declined a request to bar tobacco and nicotine use across county-owned grounds.
Marissa Linn, speaking for the SAFE Coalition and as administrator of the Community Partnership Grant for Van Buren County Hospital, urged the board to adopt a tobacco- and nicotine-free policy for all county-owned buildings and grounds. Kris Rankin, also with the SAFE Coalition, attended the presentation and provided updates on coalition activities.
The board reached a consensus to amend the county’s employee rules to clarify that county buildings and county vehicles are smoke- and vape-free areas. Supervisors said they had no interest in extending that prohibition to public use of county grounds.
The decision leaves public access to outdoor county property unchanged while tightening indoor and vehicle restrictions for county employees. SAFE Coalition representatives left the meeting having secured a change to employee policy but not the broader public-grounds prohibition. The board did not take a separate roll-call vote on a tobacco-and-nicotine ban for public grounds.
