Fr BOC to Hear First Reading Tonight of New Vaping Ordinance

Franklin County commissioners are expected to hear the first reading of a new vaping ordinance when they meet for their regular meeting this evening.

At their recent work session, Commission Chair Jason Macomson said the Board was approached by the School System to develop the ordinance.

“We were recently contacted by school officials about the problem of vaping by students at the high school,” he began. “And in consultation with those officials, our Magistrate, and our attorney, State law allows the Board of Commissioners to pass a local ordinance, which would allow the school resource officer discretion to issue warnings before they charge students under the local ordinance or state law as well providing several different options for punishments. And this ordinance would update our current ordinance. If I’m correct we really don’t have anything about vaping because that wasn’t a thing when that was written. So, this new ordinance would conform to state law and at the same time give school officials more flexibility when dealing with what has become a serious issue.”

Commissioners agreed the goal of the ordinance for students should be that it is used as a way to educate young people on the dangers of vaping, rather than arresting them.

County Magistrate Judge Cody Grizzle suggested giving students a citation, which would be dealt with in Magistrate Court within a 30-60 day timeframe.

As for penalties, he recommended community service or attending classes on the dangers of vaping.

“The only thing I’d like to do is I’d like to have the same maximum with a first offense being just community service work,” he told the Board. “So what would happen in the process would be, when we say community service work, they would go to a class first. A school resource officer or any officer would be able to write them a citation. What we would be offering would be like a diversion program.”

Grizzle said the problem is coming up with penalties if the student refuses to go to the diversion class.

Commissioners plan to hear the second reading and vote to pass the vaping ordinance at their March meeting.

In other business tonight, the Board is expected to get an update on the library system from Library Manager Maggie West.

Tonight’s meeting begins at 6p at the Franklin County Justice Center in Carnesville and is also available on Zoom.