Since her election in 1998, Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens has supported tough anti-smoking efforts, including raising the state tobacco tax and sponsoring a "Smoking Stinks" campaign for teens.

But Owens, a longtime smoker, has yet to kick the habit, and some say she lights up in her county office - an apparent violation of state and local law.

Although smoking is banned inside the Arundel Center in Annapolis, Owens smokes in her fourth-floor office, according to several former county officials.

"The circumstances [of her smoking] were that she would be in her office by herself, having a quiet moment," said Jerome W. Klasmeier, Owens' former special projects coordinator and chief administrative officer.

Klasmeier, who left the county this month when Owens decided not to renew his contract, said she "occasionally" smokes in her office, sometimes while watching council meetings on cable television.

Former county officials Phillip F. Scheibe and Marvin A. Bond also say they've seen Owens smoke cigarettes in her office.

State and county law prohibits smoking in the workplace, with the exception of restaurants and bars.

Recently, the American Lung Association of Maryland launched a statewide campaign to extend the smoking ban to the hospitality industry.

"A rule is a rule, no matter who you are," said Debra Southerland, director of advocacy for the association.

Owens, a Democrat from Millersville who was re-elected last month, refused several requests for an interview.

Approached at a recent event at Anne Arundel Medical Center, she called accusations that she smokes in her office "bizarre," but would not comment further.

Tobacco has long played a central role in Owens' life.

As a girl, she roamed the tobacco fields of her family's Bristol farm. As a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, she started smoking to make it through exams, she has said.

But as county executive, Owens has supported raising the tobacco tax and has earmarked money from tobacco settlements for "Smoking Stinks."

William F. Chaney, a longtime friend, said that the demands of Owens' job have prompted her to smoke more than she did four years ago.

"She probably would have stopped [smoking] if she wasn't in such a stressful job. If that is the worse thing she ever does, then God bless her," Chaney said, adding that he has never seen Owens smoke in her office.

Owens is not the first prominent Marylander to be accused of smoking in the workplace.

In 1996, Carolyn Manuszak, then president of the private Villa Julie College in Baltimore County, was fined $1,312 by the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health program for smoking in her office bathroom.

Two years later, Carroll County Sheriff John H. Brown was investigated after being photographed in his office with a lighted cigarette in his hand.

Klasmeier and other county officials - past and present - say they have seen Owens smoke in her office suite, which includes a private bathroom.

Some say Owens smokes there almost every day.

Others say she lights up occasionally, and only in front of close political advisers or friends.

"I know she smokes in her office bathroom," said Scheibe, a former two-term county councilman. He headed the law office for Owens for a short time in 1999 until, as a holdover from the administration of County Executive John G. Gary, he was asked to leave.

County code bans smoking "in any county-owned building or in that part of any building leased by the county for its use." The ban was set in 1993, shortly before the state banned smoking in all workplaces except restaurants and bars.

Other exceptions include tobacco shops, labs and "designated smoking areas," which must have solid walls and a vent system that exhausts smoky air directly outdoors.

Enforcement of state anti-smoking laws is handled by the compliance and enforcement unit of MOSH, which investigates complaints, issues warnings and levies fines.

An agency spokeswoman said that no complaints had been filed against Owens.

Still, it is up to Owens to "maintain a safe workplace" for her staff, said Kathleen Dachille, director of the Center for Tobacco Regulation at the University of Maryland School of Law.

"If the county allows smoking in the workplace, the county could be issued a violation notice."

Owens also has been accused of smoking in her county car, which would violate state and county law.

"I've seen her smoke in the car," said Bond, Owens' former chief of staff. He resigned in 2000, saying he and Owens had "different expectations."

County police officers rotate shifts as Owens' chauffeur and bodyguard.

"There is no protection for workers other than complete elimination of smoke in the workplace," said Southerland. "Ventilation - opening a car window or using a fan - does not work."