UPDATE: Wednesday 3/10
CABELL COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Wednesday marked the second day of the Cabell County smoking ban, and Health Department officials say so far, so good.

They’ve only received a couple complaints where bars allowed smokers to light up.

Myra Cheek with the Health Department writes down all the complaints, and the two bars that did not comply received a visit from the Health Department workers.

“We give them a warning and re-educate them on the regulation, but after that the kid gloves come off," Stan Mills with the Health Department says. "We just want them to understand the regulation and comply."

The ban is causing a mess outside some of the bars until owners buy containers for smokers to put out their cigarettes.

When Fat Patty’s restaurant and bar opened a few years ago in Huntington, the owners chose to be smoke free, even when food sales were below the limit to allow smoking. Meanwhile, business continues to thrive.

Fat Patty’s employee Yiorgie Alexandropoulos says, “We didn’t want holes in the table cloths or burn marks on the bar.”

The ban is still fresh for bars and gaming parlors and owner say they just hope patrons won’t leave but rather comply with the regulation.

Health Department folks hand-delivered letters to each bar in the area. The letter simply explains what the bar needs to do to comply with the new smoking ban that's now in full effect.

The first step was to put signs up at the front door of bars, showing they're now smoke free.

It also meant that bars had to clear out all the smoking paraphernalia like ashtrays. Workers there say they're not only serving customers, but also having to explain to those customers how these new rules work.

"They'll be given copies of the regulation," Stan Mills with the Health Department said. "They'll be warned not to do it again. And a re-inspection will follow in 10 days. If at the end of 10 days they're still not in compliance, we'll step it up. They'll get a three-day warning. At the end of that, we'll turn it over to the prosecutor."

Mills said they did not run into any problems from bar owners or managers while handing out the smoking ban information Tuesday. He also said the Health Department is prepared for any bar or establishment that tries to break or bend the rules. Mills said the entire organization is very dedicated to making sure the rules are enforced.

That's because the latest legal hurdle has been cleared in the newly passed smoking ban.

Technically, the smoking ban's officially on the books already. The Cabell-Huntington Health Department was waiting on legal paperwork Monday morning, giving them the green light to implement the ban.

Business owners have the responsibility to post "no smoking" signs in their establishments at the front door and to remove all ashtrays and other smoking paraphernalia from the business.

Owners also will be getting a packet which has several "no smoking" signs that can be placed throughout their establishments.

Health Department officials say enforcement will pretty much be business as usual -- fueled by inspections and customer complaints.

To ensure businesses are playing by the rules, the Health Department will issue a warning if there's a violation and revisit the site in 10 days, then a second time three days later.

If an issue continues unresolved, the case will be turned over to the Cabell County Prosecutor's Office.

The smoking ban will be enforced Monday and some businesses say they’re starting to see fewer customers. While this is bad news for some businesses in Cabell County, some other counties are looking forward to the ban.

Mike Proctor owns New Orleans Coffee House in Putnam County where he dealt with a smoking ban for a short time before smoking was allowed again.

“When we had the ban in Putnam County, it cost us revenue and we hope to reap the benefits now with people crossing the county line,” Proctor said.

The Java Joe's in Wayne County, where smoking is permitted is also seeing more business since the ban was announced Thursday.

“We’ve had several people come in here from Cabell County and say they’ll start coming here,” Judy Mayo at Java Joe's said.

The ban will be enforced Monday.