Smokers reveling in bars on New Year's Eve will get a two-hour reprieve on the statewide smoking ban that begins Jan. 1. Public health officials won't peer through windows to find out if all cigarettes have been extinguished.

But after New Year's Eve, they will keep track of complaints about bars, taverns, bingo parlors and card rooms that aren't complying with the new law.

"We anticipate that most bars will comply. We've sent out letters to all bar and restaurant owners," said Joseph Wadley, who will monitor complaints for the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency.

Beginning Jan. 1, the law that outlawed smoking in offices, restaurants and most other places where people work or congregate, will be extended to bars.

But because county public health departments, which have responsibility for enforcement, don't have the time or staff to monitor every bar in the Northern San Joaquin Valley and foothills, they will rely on complaints that they expect to come from non-smoking patrons and other bars.

"If it's anything like the restaurants, we had restaurants calling us on other restaurants for the first five or six months," Wadley said. "It was unbelievable what people would call and tell us."

But, he added, "We're going to need a lot of support. The bar crowd is a different crowd."

Although the law establishes fines for each offense, Wadley said local officials plan to send warning letters to bars where a complaint has been received.

"After the third warning, we'll go out there and see for ourselves," he said.

Under the law, bar owners can be cited and fined as follows:

• A first violation is punishable by a fine not to exceed $100.
• A second violation within one year is punishable by a fine not to exceed $200.
• Third and subsequent fines within one year are punishable by fines not to exceed $500.
• After a third violation, employees may file a complaint with Cal-OSHA.
• Cal-OSHA penalties are up to $7,000 per violation.

Reprinted by permission of Modesto Bee.