Kentucky Noise Laws (2026): Quiet Hours, Disorderly Conduct, Fines

Kentucky leaves most neighborhood noise rules, including any quiet hours and decibel limits for homes, to cities and counties. The main state offense is second-degree disorderly conduct under KRS 525.060(1)(b): a person who, "in a public place and with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm, or wantonly creating a risk thereof," "makes unreasonable noise" commits a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $250. To compare other states, see our guide to noise ordinance laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-10. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Kentucky state law: first- and second-degree disorderly conduct (KRS 525.055, 525.060) and the definition of public place (525.010(3)), with the misdemeanor and violation penalties (532.090, 534.040); the vehicle equipment, horn and muffler statutes (189.020, 189.080, 189.140) and their fine (189.990(1)(a)); the noise provisions of the environmental chapter (224.30-175, 224.30-190, 224.99-010); city and county powers and ordinance penalties (82.082, 83A.065, 67.083, 65.8808); the private nuisance statutes (411.520 to 411.560); the shooting range and agricultural protections (237.210, 413.072); the state park campground rule and its penalties (304 KAR 1:040, 148.051, 148.991); motorboat muffling (235.200, 235.990); the tenant duty in localities that adopted the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (383.500, 383.605, 383.660); and the noise lines in the 2026 electric generating facility siting act. It does not cover the text of any city or county noise ordinance, rental lease terms, aircraft or workplace noise, or the law of other states.

Kentucky noise laws at a glance

State rules that set hours

Kentucky's state park campgrounds have a set quiet time. Under 304 KAR 1:040, section 1(5): "Quiet time begins at 11 p.m. Campers shall not have visitors after 11 p.m." A camper or guest "shall not engage in fighting; threatening or abusive language; or lewd acts, or conduct that causes public inconvenience, annoyance, alarm, unreasonable noise, or is disturbing to campground patrons," and failure to comply "may result in arrest, fine, or eviction from the park property" (section 1(24)). Everyone on property controlled by the Department of Parks must comply with its regulations (KRS 148.051(2)), and a violation of that duty carries a fine of $10 to $100, 1 to 10 days in jail, or both (148.991(1)). The regulation also lets the park manager revoke the violator's permit, with no refund of the fee, have certain vehicles towed, and remove the person from the park (304 KAR 1:040, section 2).

The vehicle and environmental statutes on this page measure noise against a vehicle's original muffler, not against a decibel number.

Does Kentucky have statewide quiet hours for homes?

Apart from the state park campground rule, none of the state statutes on this page sets quiet hours, construction hours or a decibel limit for homes. The environmental chapter leaves noise programs to local government: "All local governments may develop, adopt, and maintain a comprehensive program of noise regulation. A program may include a study of the noise problems resulting from uses and activities within its jurisdiction and the development and adoption of a noise control plan" (KRS 224.30-175). That statute permits local programs; it does not require one or set any limit. The rest of the state noise control subchapter was repealed in 2017; only 224.30-175 and the exhaust rule in 224.30-190 remain.

Where a neighborhood has quiet hours, they come from the city or county code. To find yours:

• Inside a city: look up the city's code of ordinances, usually linked from the city website or available from the city clerk, and read its noise or nuisance chapter.
• County ordinances: check the county's ordinances through the fiscal court or county clerk. A county ordinance that carries penalties applies throughout the county, including inside cities, unless a statute provides otherwise or the city has adopted its own ordinance on the same subject that is the same as or more stringent (KRS 67.083(7)).
• Who to call: the police department or sheriff's office takes noise complaints; in many places a code enforcement office or board handles ordinance violations.

When noise is disorderly conduct in Kentucky

KRS 525.060(1) makes a person guilty of second-degree disorderly conduct when, "in a public place and with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm, or wantonly creating a risk thereof," the person "(b) Makes unreasonable noise." Three things must line up: unreasonable noise, a public place, and the intent (or wanton risk) of public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm.

"Public place" is defined broadly in KRS 525.010(3): "a place to which the public or a substantial group of persons has access and includes but is not limited to highways, transportation facilities, schools, places of amusements, parks, places of business, playgrounds, and hallways, lobbies, and other portions of apartment houses and hotels not constituting rooms or apartments designed for actual residence. An act is deemed to occur in a public place if it produces its offensive or proscribed consequences in a public place."

For neighbor noise, the question is where the noise produces its offensive consequences. A street, a park or an apartment hallway or lobby can qualify, while "rooms or apartments designed for actual residence" are excluded from the definition. Neighbor noise that does not meet the statute may still violate a city or county noise ordinance.

Second-degree disorderly conduct is a Class B misdemeanor (525.060(2)). The jail term "shall not exceed ninety (90) days" (532.090(2)), and the fine may not exceed $250 (534.040(2)(b)).

A more serious offense covers funerals. First-degree disorderly conduct applies when a person, in a public place and with the same intent or wanton risk, "makes unreasonable noise" within 300 feet of a cemetery during a funeral or burial, a funeral home during a viewing, a funeral procession, a funeral or memorial service, or a building where one is being held, from one hour before the event begins to one hour after it ends, knowing that he or she is within 300 feet of it (KRS 525.055(1)). It is a Class A misdemeanor (525.055(2)), punishable by up to 12 months in jail (532.090(1)) and a fine of up to $500 (534.040(2)(a)).

How Kentucky cities and counties regulate noise

Cities. "A city may exercise any power and perform any function within its boundaries ... that is in furtherance of a public purpose of the city and not in conflict with a constitutional provision or statute" (KRS 82.082(1)). A power conflicts with a statute "if it is expressly prohibited by a statute or there is a comprehensive scheme of legislation on the same general subject embodied in the Kentucky Revised Statutes" (82.082(2)).

Counties. Except as otherwise provided by statute or the Kentucky Constitution, a fiscal court may enact ordinances for the "abatement of public nuisances" and the "regulation of public gatherings" (KRS 67.083(3)(a), (b)).

Ordinance penalties. A city may make an ordinance violation a misdemeanor or a violation "by the express terms of the ordinance" (KRS 83A.065(2)). A misdemeanor ordinance may carry a fine of up to the Class A amount in 534.040(2)(a), which is $500, and jail of up to the 532.090(1) term, which is 12 months; a violation may carry a fine of up to $250 (534.040(2)(c)). If an ordinance punishes an act that is also a state offense, its penalty "shall not be less than or greater than that imposed by statute for the same offense" (83A.065(5)), and an ordinance may provide that "each day a violation of the ordinance continues shall be a separate and distinct offense" (83A.065(6)).

Code enforcement boards. A local government may create a code enforcement board with "the power to issue remedial orders and impose civil fines" for ordinance violations classified as civil offenses, including "any zoning or nuisance ordinance" (KRS 65.8808(1), (2)). Apart from two littering offenses, a local government may not classify an ordinance violation as a civil offense if the same conduct would also be a criminal offense or a moving motor vehicle offense under any Kentucky statute (65.8808(3)).

Loud cars, mufflers and horns

Kentucky has three overlapping vehicle rules:

• Equipment generally: "Every vehicle when on a highway shall be so equipped as to make a minimum of noise, smoke or other nuisance, to protect the rights of other traffic, and to promote the public safety" (KRS 189.020).
• Mufflers: every motor vehicle "shall be equipped with a suitable and efficient muffler," and no person on a highway "shall operate a motor vehicle with the muffler cut out or removed" (189.140(1)). No one may modify the exhaust of a motor vehicle or an off highway vehicle "in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the motor of such vehicle above that emitted by the muffler originally installed on the vehicle," or operate a motor vehicle with an exhaust so modified (189.140(2)).
• Horns: a driver must sound the horn "whenever necessary as a warning of the approach of such vehicle to pedestrians or other vehicles, but shall not sound the horn or sound device unnecessarily" (189.080).

A violation of 189.020, 189.080 or 189.140 carries a fine of "not less than twenty dollars ($20) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100) for each offense" (189.990(1)(a)).

The environmental chapter repeats the exhaust rule in KRS 224.30-190. Its penalty section makes a knowing violation of a chapter 224 noise provision a Class A misdemeanor, but "for offenses by motor vehicles, a person shall be guilty of a violation" (224.99-010(3)(a), (b)), which carries a fine of up to $250 (534.040(2)(c)). Separately, a person who violates "any provision of this chapter relating to noise" is liable for a civil penalty of up to $5,000, plus up to $5,000 for each day the violation continues (224.99-010(2)).

Boats. "Except during an authorized race or regatta, which shall include trial runs in preparation for such race or regatta to be conducted at a time and place designated by the department, it shall be illegal to operate any motorboat without an effective exhaust muffling system, or in any manner which renders the exhaust muffling system ineffective in muffling the sound of engine exhaust" (KRS 235.200(2)). A violation of chapter 235 carries a fine of $50 to $200 (235.990(1)).

Suing a neighbor for noise: Kentucky's private nuisance statutes

Kentucky governs private nuisance suits by statute: "Any and all proceedings in the nature of actions for private nuisance as heretofore arising at common law shall be governed by KRS 411.500 to 411.570" (411.520(1)). These rules shape what a lawsuit over a neighbor's noise can achieve:

• The standard is an ordinary person. A use of property is a substantial annoyance or interference "if it would substantially annoy or interfere with the use and enjoyment of property by a person of ordinary health and normal sensitivities" (411.550(2)).
• No damages for annoyance. "No damages shall be awarded for annoyance, discomfort, sickness, emotional distress, or similar claims for a private nuisance" (411.560(3)).
• Damages are measured by property value. For a permanent nuisance, compensatory damages are the reduction in the property's fair market value, not to exceed that value; for a temporary nuisance, they are the drop in the value of the use of the property if the claimant occupied it, or in its fair rental value if not (411.560(1)). Punitive damages are possible only if the claimant recovers damages under that section and the defendant's conduct meets the standards of KRS 411.184 (411.560(4)).
• Standing. "No person shall have standing to bring an action for private nuisance unless the person has an ownership interest or possessory interest in the property alleged to be affected by the nuisance" (411.560(5)).

In a city or county that has adopted Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (KRS 383.500), a tenant must "conduct himself and require other persons on the premises with his consent to conduct themselves in a manner that will not disturb his neighbors' peaceful enjoyment of the premises" (383.605(7)). If a noisy neighbor rents in such a place, you can report the noise to the landlord. For a material noncompliance with the rental agreement or with 383.605, the landlord may deliver a written notice that the rental agreement will terminate on a date not less than 14 days after the tenant receives it, and it terminates as provided in the notice if the breach is not remedied in 15 days (383.660(1)). See our page on Kentucky landlord-tenant laws. For fireworks rules, see Kentucky fireworks laws.

Shooting ranges, farms and power plants

Shooting ranges. No shooting range, or person owning, operating or using one, "shall be subject to any action for civil or criminal liability, damages, abatement, or injunctive relief resulting from or relating to noise generated by the operation of the range if the range remains in compliance with noise control or nuisance abatement administrative regulations, statutes, or ordinances applicable to the range on the date on which it commenced operation" (KRS 237.210(2)). Later noise rules may not "be applied retroactively to prohibit conduct at a shooting range, which conduct was lawful and being engaged in prior to" their adoption (237.210(3)). A physical expansion or new types of firearms do not set a new start date "unless the change triples the amount of the noise produced by the shooting range," measured by an independent testing agency or a unit of government, and "only a person who lives adjacent to the shooting range shall have standing to bring an action under this section" (237.210(1)).

Farms. No agricultural or silvicultural operation "shall be or become a nuisance or trespass, private or public," or be subject to any ordinance restricting "normal and accepted practices," because of changed conditions in the area after it has operated for more than one year, "when the operation was not a nuisance at the time the operation began." The protection does not apply when a nuisance, trespass or zoning violation results from negligent operation (KRS 413.072(2)).

Power plants. In the merchant electric generating facility siting statutes as set out in a 2026 act (2026 Ky. Acts ch. 152, H.B. 677), an application must include "a statement certifying that the proposed plant will be in compliance with all local ordinances and regulations concerning noise control," and the review covers "anticipated noise levels expected as a result of construction and operation of the proposed facility" (KRS 278.706, 278.710). The site assessment report must include an "evaluation of the noise levels expected to be produced by the facility" (278.708(3)(a)8.). Since July 15, 2026, apart from the minimum decommissioning bond amount, a local government's ordinance, permit or license has primacy over KRS 278.700, 278.704, 278.706 and 278.708, and a conflict between a siting board order and a local ordinance, permit or license is resolved in the local government's favor (278.718).

Related pages

• Noise ordinance laws by state
• Kentucky landlord-tenant laws
• Kentucky fireworks laws
• Indiana noise ordinance laws
• Tennessee noise ordinance laws

This article provides general legal information about Kentucky law, not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Kentucky or your city or county government.

Last updated: 2026-10-10.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the noise laws in Kentucky?

State law makes unreasonable noise in a public place, with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, second-degree disorderly conduct (KRS 525.060(1)(b)), and regulates mufflers, exhaust and horns (189.140, 224.30-190, 189.080). Quiet hours and decibel limits for homes come from your city or county ordinance.

What are the quiet hours in Kentucky?

None of the state statutes on this page sets quiet hours for homes, so check your city or county code. In state park campgrounds, quiet time begins at 11 p.m. (304 KAR 1:040).

Is a loud neighbor disorderly conduct in Kentucky?

Only if the noise is unreasonable, occurs in a public place, and is made with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm or wantonly creating a risk of it (KRS 525.060(1)(b)). An act counts as occurring in a public place if its offensive consequences occur there (525.010(3)); otherwise, local noise ordinances apply.

What is the penalty for disorderly conduct for noise in Kentucky?

Second-degree disorderly conduct is a Class B misdemeanor: up to 90 days in jail (KRS 532.090(2)) and a fine of up to $250 (534.040(2)(b)).

What is the fine for a loud muffler in Kentucky?

A violation of the muffler statute, KRS 189.140, carries a fine of $20 to $100 for each offense (189.990(1)(a)). A knowing exhaust modification under 224.30-190 by a motor vehicle is a violation with a fine of up to $250 (224.99-010(3)(b); 534.040(2)(c)).

Can I sue my neighbor for noise in Kentucky?

A private nuisance suit is governed by KRS 411.500 to 411.570. You need an ownership or possessory interest in the affected property, the noise is judged by a person of ordinary health and normal sensitivities, and no damages are awarded for annoyance or discomfort (411.550(2), 411.560(3), (5)). Compensatory damages are measured by the loss in the property's market value, or for a temporary nuisance its use or rental value (411.560(1)).

Can a shooting range be sued for noise in Kentucky?

Not over noise while the range complies with the noise rules that applied when it began operating (KRS 237.210(2)), and later noise rules cannot be applied retroactively to lawful range conduct (237.210(3)). Only a person who lives adjacent to the range has standing under that section.