Homer Glen Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike said she would like the Village Board to act next month to update its tobacco ordinances with stricter penalties for businesses found guilty of selling tobacco products to minors.
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The policy change is being considered because the village’s existing ordinance needs clarification, and current penalties are too lenient and need to be updated, officials said.
Neitzke-Troike said an increasing number of parents have called her and village staff or wrote on social media that tobacco shops sold products to their children.
“In my last three years being mayor, I’m aware of an uptick in parents’ concerns that tobacco shops were selling to minors,” she said. “The calls I get say, ‘my 14-year-old son came back with a pack of cigarettes.’”
Some of the complaints fielded by village staff stated children as young as 14 and 15 were able to buy tobacco products, Neitzke-Troike said. The tobacco shops have an obligation to follow state law, and the village has to look out for its children, she said.
“We have a responsibility to our residents,” she said.
At a recent board meeting, Neitzke-Troike asked the board to review a draft proposal and submit their comments and questions to village staff so the ordinance can be addressed soon.
The village board next meets at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 12 at Village Hall, 14240 W. 151st St.
“We appreciate the village’s efforts to help reduce youth access to tobacco and nicotine products, as protecting the health and well-being of students is a shared community responsibility,” Homer District 33C Superintendent Craig Schoppe said in an email. “We also appreciate the increased efforts of local business owners in supporting the common goal of making sure these products do not end up in the hands of our students.”
Three Homer Glen businesses were caught in a liquor and tobacco sting last year, according to the Will County sheriff’s office, which provides the village’s police services.
The sheriff’s office utilizes deputies who are state certified in conducting liquor/tobacco compliance checks and underage, trained police explorer volunteers, said Elizabeth Matthews, a department spokesman.
Smokers Expo,12330 W. 143rd St., Smokers Kingdom, 15753 S. Bell Road, and Citgo, 12108 W. 159th St. were found not to be compliance last July, she said.
According to the village, the businesses caught last year selling to minors were fined $250.
In September 2023, the sheriff’s department found five businesses not in compliance with tobacco laws, including Smokers Kingdom, Homer Glen Smoke and Vape, 14201 S. Bell Road, Circle K, 14310 S. Bell Road, Sky Smoke Shop, 14326 S. Golden Oak Drive, and King Tut Smoke,14310 S. Bell Road.
Fines imposed on businesses failing compliance checks in 2023 were not readily available. Both King Tut and Sky Smoke Shop have since closed.
Employees at Smoker’s Expo, Smoker’s Kingdom and Homer Glen Smoke and Vape said no one was available to answer questions on the proposed ordinance.
Illinois law states people must be at least 21 to buy tobacco products, including cigarettes, chewing tobacco, e-cigarettes and vapes.
Under the draft tobacco ordinance, the first violation of selling tobacco or alternative nicotine products to a minor would be a fine of between $1,000 to $2,500 and suspension of the tobacco license for not less than 14 consecutive days.
A second violation within a 12-month period would be a fine of between $2,500 and $5,000 and suspension of the tobacco license for not less than 30 days, according to the draft. A third violation within a year would be a fine of not less than $5,000 and revocation of the tobacco license.
The proposal can still be amended based on Village Board feedback.
Homer Glen officials have taken other measures to ensure harmful products stay out of children’s hands. Last year the board banned tobacco and vape stores from selling nitrous oxide
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and Kratom, and its synthetic version, which can act like an opioid at high doses.Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.