MOUNT VERNON — According to Brian Benick, director of environmental health at the Knox County Health Department, the department is not spending a large amount of money investigating smoking violations within the county, but is pursuing violators efficiently.
Benick said some counties in Ohio are running into financial problems enforcing the statewide smoking ban. The penalties for violating the ban became effective in May 2007; fines were intended to partially fund the enforcement of the law. According to Kristopher Weiss, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health, the state has collected about $173,000 in fines since the law went into effect.
According to Benick, the state provided Knox County with some funds to begin enforcing the ban, and the county will receive 90 percent of all fines collected.
“I haven’t noticed [that] it’s a tremendous hit on our budget right now,” said Benick, referring to enforcement of the smoking ban. “We’re not getting that many complaints.”
Benick estimates he spends about six hours a month investigating complaints of places violating the smoking ban.
“I’m not spending a terrific amount of time investigating smoking violations,” said Benick.
The health department has not collected much money from fines, either.
“As of Tuesday, we’ve collected [a total] of $1,170,” said Benick, adding that he is expecting another fine of $500 to be paid in the near future.
In contrast, Benick said that according to his statistics, which were current as of April 22, Lucas County had 1,303 reports of establishments violating the smoking ban, with 760 investigations of those complaints. In comparison, Knox County has had 152 reports and 91 investigations within the same time period. Benick said that while Lucas County has issued 16 $500 fines, Knox County has issued four $500 fines in the same time period.
“We’ve ... been more aggressive [with enforcement],” he said.
According to Benick, he tries to investigate potential smoking violations during the evening, when he thinks they are most likely to occur.
“We’re not trying to get people, but if I get a complaint, I’m going to go out when they’re most likely smoking,” he said.
