Wichita OKs changes to tobacco ordinance without American Heart Association support

Wichita will no longer criminally penalize people under 21 for possessing tobacco products, although police can still confiscate cigarettes, vapes and chewing tobacco seized from minors.

The legal age for purchasing tobacco products will remain 21 under the revised ordinance approved by the City Council on Tuesday, but the biggest enforcement shift aims to hold tobacco retailers accountable for underage sales rather than penalizing individual employees.

Under the previous ordinance, clerks found to have sold to minors were charged with a misdemeanor but tobacco license-holders and store managers were not punished. Wichita’s municipal court saw 25 cases of selling to minors in 2022.

Now, license holders and store managers can be charged with a class B misdemeanor, punishable by a $200 minimum fine, if they are present when the illegal sale takes place. Clerks, on the other hand, will only be charged on a second or subsequent offense.

“We will give clerks a written warning on the first offense and they will deal with ramifications of their employer and not by a misdemeanor on their record,” Assistant City Attorney Jan Jarman told the council.

Despite the American Heart Association working closely with city staff for more than two years to craft the revised ordinance, Government Relations Director Kari Rinker said the nonprofit could not support the final version approved by the council.

She took exception to city legal’s unwillingness to include in the ordinance specific language requiring at least one compliance check for tobacco retailers annually and specifying the time frame for rechecks when they are found to be in violation.

“Public works and utilities are doing compliance checks currently, which is why I did not anticipate that the city would shirk from the commitment to support this important work,” Rinker said.

“The lack of commitment to the early compliance checks subjects the program to this lack of enforcement and proper staffing in the future. Other communities have made the same mistake only to see their programs completely go away during tough budget times.”

Jarman said the public works department diligently inspects tobacco retailers. Placing such language in an ordinance has a tactical downside, she said.

“You don’t want to codify the time for a recheck because that tips off your business that you’re coming back,” Jarman said. “If you want a valuable recheck that’s done where it’s truly random and they don’t know you’re coming, don’t codify you’ll be back in four weeks. Show up sometimes in two, sometimes in six, sometimes in three months — your rechecks will be stronger.”

She said public works has a full-time employee whose only job is to conduct tobacco license inspections. Public works conducted 455 compliance checks in 2022, she said.

“The communities that the Heart Association has fought most in are communities who do zero compliance checks. We’ve never had that problem here,” Jarman said.

The revised ordinance did garner support from Tobacco Free Wichita, the oldest community coalition against tobacco in Kansas.

“I feel confident that as a public health professional, our public works team wants to use this ordinance and the policy to help keep our community safe,” council member Becky Tuttle said before the vote. “The number one goal should be prevention of tobacco use and I think our staff completely understands that.”