SPRINGFIELD - Owners of The Still successfully annexed into nearby New Berlin to avoid a smoking ban affecting the unincorporated areas of Sangamon County.

"If we would not have, we wouldn't be around today," said bartender Sherry Freesmeyer. "Eighty percent of our customers are smokers."

And, she said, those customers could have gone a few blocks into town to smoke at the downtown bar. Now that customers can smoke at The Still, Freesmeyer said, "We're starting to get people from Springfield."

Smoking bans in public places - similar to those starting Monday in the Twin Cities and unincorporated McLean County - went into effect Sept. 17 in Springfield and unincorporated Sangamon County and Aug. 1 for some Urbana businesses.

But the transitions have been less than smooth.

In Springfield, state employees working in a leased building were among the first to receive tickets for violating the new ordinance. But they challenged the charges and forced a legal opinion on the matter. The decision: While state facilities are exempt from the ordinance, leased buildings are not.

The citations were dismissed because of the confusion, said Jim Henricks, director of environmental health at the Sangamon County Department of Public Health.

There's even more confusion elsewhere.

Henricks said there are establishments within the county that have to abide by the smoking ban, but others - literally next door or across the street in one of several small municipalities - allow smoking.

"It's not fair," said Clyde Bunch, a Sangamon County Board member, assistant floor leader and pro-tem chairman. "The ban in Sangamon County was not very well put together."

That's why Bunch has suggested the County Board approve an advisory referendum for the February primary asking voters if they want a smoking ban in bars, private clubs, bowling alleys and designated areas in bingo halls.

Bunch said the board is expected to vote Jan. 9.

Meanwhile, Urbana City Attorney Jim Gitz said that city is hoping education and voluntary compliance will keep complaints down when the city's full smoking ban begins Monday. The City Council enacted a smoking ban for all public places except bars on Aug. 1. The smoking ban in bars begins Monday.

Champaign begins its public-place smoking ban Jan. 31.

Gitz said he was not aware of any violations so far, but expected enforcement to become more serious after the first of the year when taverns are affected.

"We will prosecute if we have to," he said. "There's no point having an ordinance if it's not enforced."

The smoking ban is one of the main issues in the race for all 10 Springfield City Council seats. The city passed an ordinance in 1995 limiting council members to a total of 12 years, influencing the high number of vacant seats, said Amber Sabin, spokeswoman for the city.

Twenty-nine people have filed for the seats. Only five are incumbents. Mayor Tim Davlin also faces opposition from three candidates.

Some argue for statewide ban

Both Sabin and Henricks say it would be much easier if a statewide smoking ban was enacted.

"From a public health standpoint, secondhand smoke is not good for you," said Henricks.

"We're hoping for a statewide ban for equality," said Sabin.

Theresa Krall, manager of Pat's Time Out Tap in unincorporated Sangamon County near New Berlin, agreed.

"There are places two miles east of here where people can smoke," she said. "This is a sports bar. People don't want to get up in the middle of a game and go outside to smoke."

Krall said the promise by officials that establishments would see an influx of nonsmokers once the ban was enacted hasn't happened.

"I've yet to see the nonsmokers coming in here in droves like they said they would," she said.

Henricks said some business owners maintain the effect of the smoking ban on their businesses is forcing them to close at the end of the year.

"I don't know if they are," he said. And, he's not sure the smoking ban can be blamed. "Food establishments go out of business all the time," he noted.

Henricks said about a half-dozen people have paid fines for violating the smoking ban: One business paid the fines for two of its customers, he said. Fines for violating the Springfield or Sangamon County ordinance range from $50 to $500.

Urbana's fines start at $135 and go up to $750. Fines in Champaign will be $145 for smokers violating the ordinance and $195 for business owners.

Each of those communities as well as Bloomington, Normal and McLean County will depend on complaints to learn about ordinance violations. Initially, Normal police plan to do random checks and pass out warnings.

"Initially, there was a flurry of complaints," Henricks said. "Now it's just steady."

Whether that means smokers are obeying the law, or people just aren't reporting violators "is the $64 question," he said.

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Unincorporated

McLean County

Smoking is banned in:

- Most enclosed public places and places of employment (see exceptions)

- All McLean County government facilities and vehicles

Smoking is allowed in:

- Private residences

- Private residences with home-based businesses except those licensed as a child or adult-care center or health-care facility

- Private sleeping rooms in nursing homes and assisted-living centers unless a roommate objects

- Hotels/motel rooms (but not more than 25 percent of the rooms at a given location)

- Retail tobacco stores

- Private clubs/lodges

- Churches

- Businesses with a Class D liquor license (Merna Tap, Green Gables, Kicks Bar and Grill, Lake Road Inn, Mustang Sally's, Danvers Y)

Normal

Banned in:

- Most enclosed public places and places of employment in Normal (see exceptions)

- Within 15 feet of the public entrance to an area that prohibits smoking

- Outdoor places of public assembly (such as bleachers at a sports venue)

- All town facilities and vehicles

Allowed in:

- Private residences except those with a home-based business open to the public or those licensed as a child or adult day care or a health-care facility

- Hotel/motel rooms (but not more than 25 percent of the rooms at a given location)

- Retail tobacco stores

- Private clubs/lodges

- Churches

- Outdoor patios except within 15 feet of the primary public entrance to the business

- Public sidewalks, roadway, park and golf courses unless they become an area of public assembly

Bloomington

Banned in:

- Most enclosed public places and places of employment (see exceptions)

- Within 15 feet of any public entrance to an area that prohibits smoking

- All city facilities and vehicles

Allowed in:

- Private residences except those with a home-based business open to the public or those licensed as a child or adult-care center or a health-care facility

- Hotel/motel rooms (but not more than 25 percent of the rooms at a given location)

- Retail tobacco stores

- Private clubs/lodges

- Outdoor patios except within 15 feet of a primary public entrance to the business

- Public sidewalk, roadway, park and golf courses

- Churches

- Bars and restaurants with liquor licenses that registered with the city before Friday for an extension to allow time to build or remodel an outdoor patio. Plans must be filed by March 1 or the extension expires. If plans are filed in time, the extension expires within a week of the day the business receives an occupancy permit or July 1, whichever comes first.