Rensselaer County enacted its kratom ban.
Local Law T-4 of 2026, introduced on August 11, 2026 by eleven of the nineteen legislators, was adopted unamended on Tuesday, September 8, 2026 with fifteen votes in favour. It prohibits the sale and distribution of kratom throughout Rensselaer County, natural leaf included. County Executive Steven F. McLaughlin held the required public hearing on Thursday, September 24, 2026 and then approved it, and on October 14, 2026 the county filed it with the Secretary of State as Local Law No. 1 of 2026. Under Section 8 it took effect that day. This page covers what the law does, what it means for orders, and who could still change it.
Last updated October 14, 2026. The filing date and local law number come from the copy filed with the Department of State, stamped October 14, 2026. Procedural detail comes from a written reply by the Clerk of the Legislature, August 24, 2026, and the County Charter, Section 3.06.
What the law does.
Eleven of the nineteen legislators introduced Local Law T-4 (Intro) of 2026 on August 11, 2026. Everything below is drawn from the filed text and names the section it comes from, because the difference between an announcement and a filed bill has already mattered once this summer: in Dutchess County the ban announced on July 30 was never taken up, and the bill the Legislature filed and passed was its own 7-OH concentration limit that left plain leaf alone. T-4 is the reverse case. Its own definition section reaches the plant.
- Local Law No. 1 of 2026, "A Local Law of the County of Rensselaer Prohibiting the Sale or Distribution of Kratom in Rensselaer County," filed with the New York Secretary of State on October 14, 2026. It was introduced on August 11, 2026 as Local Law T-4 (Intro) of 2026, a temporary designation used while a measure is pending, and received its permanent number on filing.
- Section 4 prohibits distributing or selling kratom in Rensselaer County.
- Section 3 defines kratom as the plant Mitragyna speciosa and parts thereof, products containing mitragynine, products derived from Mitragyna speciosa leaves, and any synthetic derivations thereof. Natural leaf is inside that definition, which is what separates T-4 from the Dutchess and Suffolk County measures that draw their line at concentration.
- Section 5 authorizes the Rensselaer County Public Health Department and law enforcement agencies to conduct regulatory inspections and compliance checks of any suspected retailer in the county and any vehicle used by that retailer, during routine facility checks, on a complaint, or as part of a criminal investigation. Kratom found during an inspection is to be immediately confiscated, and destroyed one year after a finding of violation.
- Section 6 sets a civil penalty of not more than five hundred dollars per item confiscated, and not more than one thousand dollars per item for each subsequent violation. It also provides that willful violation may result in criminal prosecution under New York State Public Health Law section 12-b.
- Section 8 makes the law effective upon its filing with the New York State Secretary of State, with no phase-in period. It was filed on October 14, 2026 and has been in force since that day.
- Sponsored by eleven of the nineteen legislators: Patire, Hoffman, Loveridge, Film, Choquette, Bayly, Grant, Casale, Herrington, Maloney and Wysocki. The eight who did not sponsor it are Fleming, Nichols, Ashley, Galuski, Rutecki, Sabo, Weaver and Zalewski. The Clerk of the Legislature confirmed on August 24, 2026 that the sponsor list is unchanged.
- Adopted September 8, 2026 with fifteen votes in favour, unamended. Two members were absent. A motion to table failed, and a floor amendment that would have added a sunset clause, ending the ban once the state legislates on the same ground, failed on a roll call. The county Public Forum had been held on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, where residents spoke both for the ban and for narrowing it to synthetics. The adopted local law went to the County Executive, who held the required public hearing on September 24, 2026 and approved it. WNYT reported the signing on October 2, 2026; the approval on the copy filed with the state is dated October 13, 2026. The county filed it with the Secretary of State on October 14, 2026, and it took effect that day.
Set against the law we said to copy.
This page holds up Dutchess County Resolution 2026136 as the better model, so here are the two filed texts next to each other rather than our word for it. Both are county measures written the same month, four weeks and one river apart.
Where the county says its power comes from
Section 2 of the Dutchess local law is enacted under Municipal Home Rule Law section 10(1)(ii)(a)(12), the specific grant counties use to legislate for the protection, order, conduct, safety, health and well-being of residents, and under Dutchess County Charter section 2.031. Section 1 of T-4 cites only Article IX of the State Constitution.
What happens when the state acts
Section 7 of the Dutchess local law is headed Reverse Preemption: it becomes null and void on the day statewide legislation with the same or substantially similar provisions goes into effect, or if a state or federal agency promulgates regulations preempting the county. The county rule cannot outlive or conflict with the state one. T-4 has no equivalent, and S8925-A has passed both houses but has not yet been delivered to the Governor.
Whether it reaches online sellers
Section 4 of the Dutchess local law applies to any person including any online platform, wherever located, and deems a sale to occur in the county whenever a prohibited product is delivered or shipped to an address within it. The enforcement authority in Section 5 of T-4 reaches suspected retailers within Rensselaer County and the vehicles they use, which is a rule aimed at the storefronts on the county's own main streets.
What the county worked out before voting
Section 8 of the Dutchess local law makes a SEQRA Type II determination on the face of the document, and the resolution package carries a Health Department fiscal worksheet putting enforcement at $15,000 for this year and $45,000 annually thereafter, for outreach, education and surveillance. The T-4 packet contains neither.
None of this means Dutchess went easy. Its penalties are the heavier ones: Section 5 sets not more than $1,500 for a first violation and not more than $3,000 for a subsequent violation within thirty-six months, with an additional $500 where the sale is to anyone under 21, and each sale counted as a separate violation. Section 4 makes liability strict, so not knowing a product was covered is not a defence. The difference between the two documents is scope, not severity. Dutchess drew a narrower line and enforced it harder.
We have stopped shipping to Rensselaer County
Checkout no longer accepts a Rensselaer County address. The law took effect on October 14, 2026, when it was filed with the Secretary of State, and we stopped shipping there that day. We follow the law in every state and locality we ship to, the same as we do for Nassau, Washington, Oneida, Albany, Schoharie and Saratoga counties.
If the county later narrows the law to concentrated 7-OH, the line Dutchess drew, nothing we sell would be reached, and we would say so here.
Draw the line at concentration, not at the plant.
This is not an argument that nothing should be regulated. The concentrated and synthetic 7-OH products behind most of the harm reporting are the ones the federal government is moving to control, and we have never sold them. It is an argument about where a county draws its line, and every point below is sourced at the foot of this page.
The federal government drew the line at concentration, not at the plant
On July 1, 2026 the DEA announced its intent to temporarily place 7-OH into Schedule I above a specified concentration threshold, set at 0.05 percent by dry weight, along with three related synthetic compounds. The action deliberately targets enhanced, concentrated, synthetic, and semi-synthetic products, and leaves ordinary leaf carrying only naturally occurring trace amounts below the threshold outside it. The agencies charged with drug enforcement and public health reviewed the science and concluded the concentrates are the threat. A county law reaching the whole plant would go further than the federal government determined was warranted.
A Florida county looked at this exact question in August and declined to ban
On August 18, 2026 the Marion County, Florida Board of County Commissioners declined to move forward with a local kratom ordinance its attorneys had been directed to draft. The county attorney noted that separating concentrated or synthetic products from plain leaf requires laboratory testing the county would have to fund, and commissioners said they would rather wait for the pending federal action than adopt a county rule that could conflict with it weeks later. Speakers and staff argued a blanket ordinance would sweep in traditional leaf and compliant retailers alongside the products that prompted the concern.
Two New York counties faced this choice and chose regulation
Dutchess County adopted Resolution 2026136 on August 10, 2026, restricting 7-OH above 2 percent of total alkaloids or 1 mg per serving and leaving plain leaf alone. County Executive Serino has since signed it. Suffolk County went further in the same direction: its Legislature voted unanimously to regulate rather than ban, and the County Executive signed that law on July 30, 2026, limiting sales to 21 and over, permitting only naturally derived products subject to third party testing, and prohibiting synthetics. Nassau, Washington, and Oneida counties banned outright, and Albany County has now joined them: its Department of Health signed Commissioner's Emergency Public Health Order No. 1 of 2026 on August 24, 2026, prohibiting all kratom sales county-wide effective 12:01 a.m. September 1, 2026. Rensselaer gets to pick which set of precedents it follows, and the county directly across the river has already picked prohibition.
New York State already regulates this, and is going further
In December 2025 the Governor signed legislation prohibiting kratom sales to anyone under 21 and requiring ingredient disclosure and consumer warning labels. In June 2026 the Legislature passed S8925A, a statewide 7-OH bill using the same 2 percent and 1 mg thresholds, which has not yet been delivered to the Governor. A county law that reaches natural leaf would sit outside the framework the state is building, and would be broader than the state measure that may take effect over it.
Prohibition moves the market, it does not close it
A countywide ban reaches the businesses that already verify age, test every batch, and publish results. Demand does not disappear with them. It relocates to sellers with no age check, no testing, no labeling, and nobody the county can hold accountable, and to the neighboring counties that have not banned. The concentrated products the county is rightly worried about are the ones about to become federally controlled regardless of what Rensselaer does.
Video series for officials
Kratom Leaf and 7-OH
Short explainers for officials weighing an outright ban, with a transcript and sources for every part.
Watch the series
In force, and still open to change.
The county filed T-4 with the Secretary of State on October 14, 2026 as Local Law No. 1 of 2026, and it took effect that day. From here only the Legislature can change it, by adopting a new local law that amends or repeals it, and that law would go through the same steps: introduction, a vote, a County Executive hearing and a signature.
Eleven legislators sponsored T-4: Patire, Hoffman, Loveridge, Film, Choquette, Bayly, Grant, Casale, Herrington, Maloney and Wysocki. The eight who did not are Fleming, Nichols, Ashley, Galuski, Rutecki, Sabo, Weaver and Zalewski.
September 8 was not the last word.
Two motions came first and both failed. A motion to table the local law pending more input did not carry. Then a procedural amendment was offered that would have added a sunset clause, so that the county ban would be superseded automatically once New York State legislates on the same ground; it failed on a roll call. The argument for banning synthetics and leaving natural leaf alone, the route Suffolk County took, was made on the floor but was never the amendment put to a vote. T-4 passed as written in the packet.
The vote was not the end of this. T-4 passed on September 8 and did not become law that night. The Clerk forwarded the adopted local law to the County Executive, Steven F. McLaughlin, who held the required public hearing on Thursday, September 24, 2026 in East Greenbush and then approved it. It was filed with the Secretary of State on October 14, 2026 and took effect that day.
So there were two windows, not one. The first closed on September 8 and belonged to the Legislature. The second was the County Executive's decision, and it closed when he signed. A county can still amend or repeal a local law it has already adopted, which is the route now open to the members who voted against it. Our written statement for the hearing record and our letters to the County Executive are in the advocacy documents library.
What we do, and can show.
Not an argument, just the record, so that anyone weighing a county ban knows what it would actually reach.
- Leaf only. No 7-OH, no concentrated extracts, never have and never will.
- Orders to New York addresses are held until the customer sends a copy of their ID, which we check by hand against the state's 21 and over requirement before the order ships.
- Every batch tested by independent third party laboratories, with the certificate of analysis published publicly.
- Labeling compliant with New York State ingredient disclosure and warning requirements.
- No shipping into states or localities where sale is prohibited.
Fair questions, answered straight.
Has Rensselaer County banned kratom?
Yes. Local Law T-4 of 2026 was introduced on August 11, 2026 and adopted unamended on September 8, 2026, with fifteen votes in favour and two members absent. County Executive Steven F. McLaughlin held the required public hearing on September 24, 2026 and then approved it. The county filed it with the Secretary of State on October 14, 2026 as Local Law No. 1 of 2026, and under Section 8 it took effect that day. We stopped shipping to Rensselaer County addresses the same day.
Does this cover plain leaf or only concentrates?
As filed, it covers both. Section 4 prohibits distributing or selling kratom in the county, and Section 3 defines kratom as the plant Mitragyna speciosa and parts thereof, products containing mitragynine, products derived from the leaves, and any synthetic derivations thereof. Plain leaf sits inside that definition. That is what separates T-4 from the Dutchess County measure adopted August 10, which restricts 7-OH by concentration, leaves plain leaf alone and has since been signed by its County Executive, and from the Suffolk County law signed July 30, which regulates rather than bans. The Legislature adopted the Rensselaer text unamended on September 8, 2026, so the whole-plant definition is the one that stands. If it is narrowed later by a subsequent local law, we will say so here.
It is in force. What comes next?
The Legislature adopted T-4 on Tuesday, September 8, 2026 at the East Greenbush Government Center. There was no public hearing before that vote, which the Clerk of the Legislature confirmed in advance. The hearing came afterwards: County Executive Steven F. McLaughlin held it on Thursday, September 24, 2026 and then approved the law. The county filed it with the Secretary of State on October 14, 2026 as Local Law No. 1 of 2026, and it took effect that day. Changing it now would take a new local law, introduced and adopted by the Legislature and then signed the same way.
What happens to my orders?
We have stopped shipping to Rensselaer County addresses, and checkout will not accept one. The law took effect on October 14, 2026, when it was filed with the Secretary of State. We follow the law in every state and locality we ship to, the same as we do for Nassau, Washington, Oneida, Albany, Schoharie and Saratoga counties.
Why is a store running this page?
Because we have an obvious commercial interest and would rather state it than hide it. We sell kratom leaf, we lose sales in Rensselaer County under this law, and that is disclosed at the bottom of this page. Everything factual here is sourced so you can check it without taking our word for anything.
Check all of it.
- New York Department of State, Local Law Filing: County of Rensselaer, Local Law No. 1 of 2026, A Local Law of the County of Rensselaer Prohibiting the Sale or Distribution of Kratom in Rensselaer County, stamped filed October 14, 2026. The filed copy carries the text as adopted, the September 8, 2026 roll calls, and the County Executive's approval dated October 13, 2026.
- Jessica L. Charette, Clerk of the Rensselaer County Legislature, notice to Hudson Valley Botanicals, October 14, 2026, that Local Law 1 of 2026 was filed with the Department of State that morning.
- Rensselaer County, filed text of Local Law T-4 (Intro) of 2026, Prohibiting the Sale or Distribution of Kratom in Rensselaer County, introduced August 11, 2026. Circulated with the August 11 meeting materials. It was filed on October 14, 2026 as Local Law No. 1 of 2026.
- Dutchess County Legislature, Resolution 2026136, full text as offered in committee by Legislators Valdes Smith, Atkins, Munn and Kaul, and adopted August 10, 2026 without floor amendment.
- NewsChannel 13, August 2026: Rensselaer Co. proposes ban on natural and synthetic kratom
- NEWS10 ABC: Kratom ban proposed in Rensselaer County
- Rensselaer County Legislature, meeting schedule and agendas
- 352today, August 18, 2026: Marion County just hit pause on a kratom ban
- Congressional Research Service: Temporary Control of 7-Hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) and Related Substances Under the Controlled Substances Act
- FDA: Hiding in Plain Sight, 7-OH Products
- Governor of New York, December 22, 2025: signing of the under-21 sales prohibition and warning label requirements
- Dutchess County Legislature, Resolution 2026136, adopted August 10, 2026
- Rensselaer County Legislature, regular meeting of September 8, 2026, livestream recording. The vote on T-4, the failed motion to table, the failed sunset amendment, and the chair announcing the law passed with fifteen in favour are all in that recording, from 1:38:40 to 2:06:55.
- Jessica L. Charette, Clerk of the Rensselaer County Legislature, written reply to Hudson Valley Botanicals, August 24, 2026, confirming the September 8 vote date, that no public hearing precedes the vote, the County Executive hearing requirement after passage, the chamber speaking rules under the Rules of the Legislature, the September 2 Public Forum, the handling of written comment as part of the official record, and the unchanged sponsor list.
- CBS6 Albany, September 25, 2026: Rensselaer County kratom ban now awaits county executive's decision
- Rensselaer County Charter, Section 3.06, Executive Approval (revised through Local Law 4 of 2025)
Pass it along.
The Legislature adopted T-4 on September 8, and it has been in force since October 14, 2026 as Local Law No. 1 of 2026. If you know someone in Rensselaer County, or anywhere in the Capital Region, this page explains what the law does and who can still change it.
This page is maintained by Hudson Valley Botanicals, a kratom retailer based in Poughkeepsie, New York, and we have a commercial interest in how this local law is resolved, including sales we lose under it. It is civic and legislative information about a county law, not legal advice, and the filed text as published by the county is the controlling document rather than our summary of it. Contact details are reproduced from the county directory and may change; tell us if you find an error and we will correct it. Nothing on this page describes what any product does. Kratom products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.
