The air at the county fair will be a little cleaner this year, thanks to a new “no smoking” ordinance passed by the Box Elder County Commission on Tuesday.

County Commissioner Jay Hardy said this new ordinance will ban smoking on property owned by the county.

Currently, there is an ordinance in place banning smoking in county owned vehicles, and thanks to the Clean Air Act, there is no smoking in public buildings. This new ordinance will include the grounds around the courthouse, the fair grounds, and the parking lots at the courthouse and fair grounds, Hardy said.

“I don’t know how many cowboys smoke anymore,” Hardy said, “but they’ll be affected.”

This new ordinance doesn’t include smokeless tobacco, he said, since he didn’t “want the sheriff taking everyone down and looking through their mouths.”

Hardy said the county had the option to enforce a $300 fine for violation of the ordinance, but opted to drop it down to $100, with the option to give a warning to first time offenders. The new ordinance will go into effect immediately.