CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Five Kanawha County bar and gambling parlor owners appeared in court Friday to answer charges that they violated the county's smoking ban.

"I think it's unfair, unjust and unconstitutional," said Kerry "Paco" Ellison, who owns the Blackhawk Saloon near Charleston. "They're hanging this silly little rule over everybody's head." 

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The owners face fines of $200 to $1,000, if found guilty. Hearings aren't expected until early next year.

"It's a waste of time," said Harold Arbaugh, who owns Lisa's slot parlor in Nitro.

The expanded smoking ban took effect July 1, but the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department didn't take formal enforcement actions against bars and gambling parlors until September. The businesses received warnings before the department filed criminal complaints.

At least one of the five complaints is expected to be dismissed.

Dick Nalle faces a misdemeanor charge, but he presented documents Friday that show he sold his former bar, McNalley's Pub in Cross Lanes, nearly two months before the Health Department filed a misdemeanor charge against him.

"They have no idea what they're doing," Nalle said.

Representatives of the Nitro Moose Lodge and The Hot Spot gambling parlor also appeared in Kanawha County Magistrate Court on Friday.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Five Kanawha County bar and gambling parlor owners appeared in court Friday to answer charges that they violated the county's smoking ban.

"I think it's unfair, unjust and unconstitutional," said Kerry "Paco" Ellison, who owns the Blackhawk Saloon near Charleston. "They're hanging this silly little rule over everybody's head." 

The bar owners were released on $1,000 personal-recognizance bonds after making their initial magistrate court appearances.

The owners face fines of $200 to $1,000, if found guilty. Hearings aren't expected until early next year.

"It's a waste of time," said Harold Arbaugh, who owns Lisa's slot parlor in Nitro.

The expanded smoking ban took effect July 1, but the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department didn't take formal enforcement actions against bars and gambling parlors until September. The businesses received warnings before the department filed criminal complaints.

At least one of the five complaints is expected to be dismissed.

Dick Nalle faces a misdemeanor charge, but he presented documents Friday that show he sold his former bar, McNalley's Pub in Cross Lanes, nearly two months before the Health Department filed a misdemeanor charge against him.

"They have no idea what they're doing," Nalle said.

Representatives of the Nitro Moose Lodge and The Hot Spot gambling parlor also appeared in Kanawha County Magistrate Court on Friday.

The Moose Lodge filed a petition in Circuit Court earlier this month, alleging that the club is exempt from the smoking ban because the Health Department improperly filed the new smoking rules with the county clerk.

The Moose says the smoking ban doesn't apply to bars and gambling parlors outside Charleston's city limits. A judge has yet to rule on the petition.

McNalley's, Lisa's and the Blackhawk Saloon also are outside the city limits.

Board of Health members believe the charges against the bars and gambling parlors will stand.

"There's no reason to change our stance," said Stephen Weber, a Charleston lawyer who serves on the six-member health board. "We expect compliance with the law and believe ultimately they will be convicted. It's high time we got this thing rolling."

The Blackhawk continues to allow smoking. Ellison has collected six boxes of food and nearly $1,000 from customers who are asked to donate $1 or a canned good for the right to light up each night at the bar. Ellison plans to give the money to the United Service Organization, which supports U.S. military troops, and the canned goods to a Charleston homeless shelter.

"The churches, the food banks, the battered women's shelter, they all want to get in on this," Ellison said. 

The Blackhawk is the only bar to have two criminal complaints filed against it.

"We're still dodging that mythical fine the Health Department keeps hanging over our head," Ellison said. "We're six months into this and nobody's paid a dime. If they shut me down, they shut me down."

Reach Eric Eyre at erice...@wvgazette.com or 348-4869.