Print edition: 
A Sedgwick County judge on Friday issued a temporary restraining order that will prevent a statewide indoor smoking ban from going into effect next week in the city of Wichita.
District Judge Eric Yost issued the order, which will allow Wichita businesses to continue operating under the city's smoking ordinance at least until July 15.
"To make a long story short, the state law will not be enforced in the city of Wichita on July 1," said Harry Najim, who sought the restraining order on behalf of three Wichita businesses — Mort's Cigar Bar, Walt's Sports Bar, and Phoenician Room and Heat Cigar Bar & Hookah Lounge.
The injunction has no effect on businesses outside the Wichita city limits. In his order, Yost scheduled a July 15 hearing to determine whether the temporary restraining order should be extended.
Najim argued in his motion for the restraining order that the city's smoking ordinance is more stringent than the broader state law, which goes into effect Thursday.
In his filing, Najim cited a portion of the state law that says, "Nothing in this act shall prevent any city or county from regulating smoking within its boundaries, so long as such regulation is at least as stringent as that imposed by this act.
"In such cases the more stringent local regulation shall control to the extent of any inconsistency."
The state law bans indoor smoking in restaurants, bars, workplaces and other public areas. But it makes several exemptions, including tobacco shops and the gaming floors of state-owned casinos.
Najim said the state law also exempts Class A and B private clubs that were licensed before Jan. 1, 2009, and designated smoking areas of adult care homes.
The city ordinance, which does not carry similar exemptions, says proprietors can allow smoking if they buy a special permit, upgrade their ventilation systems and limit smoking-optional rooms to adults.
The state law, Najim argued, "purports to be a comprehensive statewide smoking ban when in reality it is nothing more than a law that willy-nilly exempts special interests, including state-owned casinos. It could be likened to a slice of Swiss cheese."
State officials in Topeka said Friday that they had not yet seen the injunction.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment spokeswoman Kristi Pankratz declined to comment on the court order but said, "We support the legislation that was passed from a public health standpoint."
Gavin Young, a spokesman for the Kansas Attorney General's Office, said lawyers from that office would argue in favor of the state law at the July 15 hearing.
"In any challenge to the statewide smoking ban, we will be defending it as constitutional," he said.
