West Virginia Noise Laws (2026): Disorderly Conduct, Quiet Hours

West Virginia's main state noise offense is disorderly conduct. Under W. Va. Code 61-6-1b, a person who, in a listed place such as a public place, a mobile home park, a public parking area or a common area of an apartment building, disturbs the peace of others by "the making of unreasonably loud noise that is intended to cause annoyance or alarm to another person," and persists after a law-enforcement officer asks them to desist, commits a misdemeanor punishable by 24 hours in jail or a fine of not more than $100. State parks observe quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.; quiet hours and decibel limits for homes, where they exist, come from city and county ordinances. 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 West Virginia state law on noise: disorderly conduct (W. Va. Code 61-6-1b); disturbing religious worship and lawful meetings (61-6-13, 61-6-14); demonstrations at funerals (61-8-15); vehicle mufflers and horns (17C-15-33, 17C-15-34) and their penalties (17C-15-6); motorboat exhaust and the chapter 20 penalty (20-7-17, 20-7-9); municipal fireworks authority (29-3E-10); municipal and county ordinance powers (8-11-1, 8-12-5, 7-1-3kk) and home-based business regulation (8-40-3); shooting ranges (61-6-23); right to farm (19-19-2, 19-19-4, 19-19-7); and the Division of Natural Resources' state park rules. It does not cover the text of any city or county noise ordinance, lease terms, private lawsuits based on court-made nuisance law, aircraft or workplace noise, federal property, or the law of other states. Statute text is the version published on the West Virginia Legislature's code site (code.wvlegislature.gov).

West Virginia noise laws at a glance

The amounts are statutory ceilings and ranges; the court sets the penalty within them.

Is loud noise a crime in West Virginia?

It can be, under the disorderly conduct statute, but only when all of its conditions are met. Section 61-6-1b(a) provides:

"Any person who, in a public place, any office or office building of the State of West Virginia, or in the State Capitol complex, or on any other property owned, leased, occupied or controlled by the State of West Virginia, a mobile home park, a public parking area, a common area of an apartment building or dormitory, or a common area of a privately owned commercial shopping center, mall or other group of commercial retail establishments, disturbs the peace of others by violent, profane, indecent or boisterous conduct or language or by the making of unreasonably loud noise that is intended to cause annoyance or alarm to another person, and who persists in such conduct after being requested to desist by a law-enforcement officer acting in his or her lawful capacity, is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, may be confined in jail for twenty-four hours or fined not more than $100"

The subsection adds a proviso: "nothing in this subsection should be construed as a deterrence to the lawful and orderly public right to demonstrate in support or protest of public policy issues."

For noise, that means three things together:

1. A listed place. The section names public places, state property, mobile home parks, public parking areas, common areas of apartment buildings and dormitories, and common areas of shopping centers and malls. A private single-family home is not among them. For purposes of the section, a "mobile home park" is "a privately owned residential housing area or subdivision wherein the dwelling units are comprised mainly of mobile homes" (61-6-1b(b)(1)).
2. Intent. The noise must be unreasonably loud and "intended to cause annoyance or alarm to another person."
3. A warning from an officer. The person must persist "after being requested to desist by a law-enforcement officer acting in his or her lawful capacity."

Noise outside those settings, such as a loud party in a house, is governed by your city or county ordinance.

Quiet hours and decibel limits in West Virginia

The statewide hours rule in this article comes from the state parks. The Division of Natural Resources' state park rules prohibit "Acting in a disorderly manner or creating any noise which would result in annoyance to others," and state: "Quiet hours are observed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m." The page notes that its list is not exhaustive and that the full rules are posted at each park.

The state rules covered here set no decibel limit or quiet hours for homes. Those, where they exist, are in your city's or county's ordinances; contact the city clerk, county commission or police non-emergency line to find the rule that applies to your address.

City and county noise ordinances

Cities and towns. West Virginia municipalities have general powers that reach noise without naming it. Section 8-12-5 lets a municipality:

• "(13) To prevent injury or annoyance to the public or individuals from anything dangerous, offensive or unwholesome";
• "(18) To prevent and suppress conduct and practices which are immoral, disorderly, lewd, obscene and indecent"; and
• "(22) To provide for the elimination of hazards to public health and safety and to abate or cause to be abated anything which in the opinion of a majority of the governing body is a public nuisance."

A municipality may "Prescribe reasonable penalties for violation of its ordinances, orders, bylaws, acts, resolutions, rules and regulations, in the form of fines, forfeitures and confinement in the county or regional jail or the place of confinement in the municipality, if there is one, for a term not exceeding thirty days" (8-11-1(a)(2)).

Counties. County commissions "are hereby authorized to enact ordinances, issue orders and take other appropriate and necessary actions for the elimination of hazards to public health and safety and to abate or cause to be abated anything which the commission determines to be a public nuisance. The ordinances may provide for a misdemeanor penalty for its violation" (7-1-3kk).

Home-based businesses. A municipality may establish reasonable regulations on a home-based business where the regulation is rationally related to a legitimate government interest, including "The protection of the public health and safety, as defined in this code, including rules and regulations related to fire and building codes, health and sanitation, transportation, or traffic control, solid or hazardous waste, pollution, and noise control" (8-40-3(a)(1)).

Vehicle and boat noise

Mufflers. "Every motor vehicle shall at all times be equipped with a muffler in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise. Such muffler shall be the muffler originally installed by the manufacturer of the vehicle or, if a replacement, the equivalent thereof. No person shall use a muffler cutout, bypass, or similar device upon a motor vehicle on a highway" (17C-15-34(a)).

Horns. A horn must be audible from not less than 200 feet, "but no horn or other warning device shall emit an unreasonably loud or harsh sound or a whistle. The driver of a motor vehicle shall when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation give audible warning with his horn but shall not otherwise use such horn when upon a highway" (17C-15-33(a)).

Penalty. Unless otherwise provided, a person violating the equipment article "is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $100; upon a second conviction within one year thereafter, shall be fined not more than $200; and upon a third or subsequent conviction, shall be fined not more than $500" (17C-15-6(a)).

Car stereos. Article 15 of Chapter 17C, the vehicle equipment article, has sections on horns (17C-15-33) and mufflers (17C-15-34); its section list contains no section on amplified sound from a vehicle.

Motorboats. "The exhaust of every internal combustion engine used on any motorboat shall be effectively muffled by equipment so constructed and used as to muffle the noise of the exhaust in a reasonable manner. The use of cutouts is prohibited," except for approved regattas and trial runs (20-7-17). That section sets no penalty, so a violation falls under the general penalty for chapter 20: a misdemeanor with a fine of $20 to $300, 10 to 100 days in jail, or both (20-7-9).

Funerals, worship and meetings

Funerals. It is a misdemeanor to carry out a demonstration within 500 feet of a cemetery or building where a funeral or memorial service or ceremony is held, during the period from 60 minutes before until 60 minutes after it, if the demonstration includes "any individual willfully making or assisting in the making of any noise or diversion that disturbs or tends to disturb the peace or good order of the funeral or memorial service or ceremony" (61-8-15(a)). A "demonstration" includes picketing and any oration, speech or use of sound amplification equipment before an assembled group that is not part of the service (61-8-15(b)). The penalty is jail of not more than one year and a fine of $200 to $500 (61-8-15(c)).

Religious worship. "If any person willfully interrupts, obstructs, or substantially disturbs any assembly of people meeting for religious worship, he or she is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail not more than one year and fined not less than $250 nor more than $1,000 for each violation" (61-6-13(a)). The section does not prohibit "peaceful picketing, protest, or other expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment that does not willfully interrupt, obstruct, or substantially disturb any assembly of persons meeting for religious worship" (61-6-13(b)). Those penalties took effect June 12, 2026, under 2026 Senate Bill 1026.

Schools and lawful meetings. Willfully disturbing schools, societies, festivals and other lawful meetings is a misdemeanor; the offender "shall be fined not less than $10 nor more than $50, and, at the discretion of the court, be confined in jail not more than thirty days in addition to such fine" (61-6-14).

Shooting ranges and farms

Shooting ranges. A "shooting range" is "an area, whether indoor or outdoor, designed and operated for the use of rifles, shotguns, pistols, silhouettes, skeet, trap, black powder or any other similar shooting" (61-6-23(a)(2)). A person may not bring a noise nuisance action against a range that already existed when the person acquired the property, unless there is a substantial change in use of the range or shooting resumes after more than a year of inactivity, and then only within two years of that change or resumption (61-6-23(b)). A person who owned property before a range was established may sue only within two years after its establishment, a substantial change in use, or the resumption of shooting (61-6-23(c)). In both cases, "if a municipal or county ordinance regulating noise exists, subsection (e) of this section controls." Those actions do not apply to a licensed indoor range that complies with the laws regulating the design and operation of such facilities (61-6-23(d)). Section 61-6-23(e)(1) provides:

"No municipal or county ordinance regulating noise may subject a shooting range to noise control standards more stringent than those standards in effect at the time construction or operation of the shooting range began, whichever occurred earlier in time. The operation or use of a shooting range may not be enjoined based on noise, nor may any person be subject to an action for nuisance or criminal prosecution in any matter relating to noise resulting from the operation of a shooting range, if the shooting range is operating in compliance with all ordinances relating to noise in effect at the time the construction or operation of the shooting range began, whichever occurred earlier in time."

Farms. Two sections limit neighbor suits. Under 19-19-4, "No complaint or right of action shall be maintained in any court of this state against the owner or operator of agricultural lands adverse to the conduct of agriculture upon agricultural lands, unless: (1) The complainant's use and occupancy of land of the complainant has existed upon his adjoining or neighboring land before the agricultural operation complained of upon the agricultural land; and (2) The conduct of such agricultural operation complained of has caused or will cause actual physical damage to the person or property of the owner or occupant of such adjoining or neighboring lands."

For nuisance damages, "A person may not file a nuisance action to recover damages in which an agricultural operation is alleged to be a public or private nuisance unless: (1) He or she is the majority legal land owner; (2) He or she owns property adversely affected by agricultural operations within one half mile of the agricultural operation; and (3) The agricultural operation has materially violated a federal, state, or local law applicable to agriculture" (19-19-7(b)). Proof that a farm "has existed for one year or more is an absolute defense to the nuisance action, if the operation is in compliance with all applicable state and federal laws, regulations, and permits" (19-19-7(c)). And "No state or local agency may bring a criminal or civil action against an agricultural operation for an activity that is in material compliance with all applicable state and federal laws, regulations, and permits" (19-19-7(d)). For the article, "Agricultural land" means land "used or usable in the production of food, fiber or woodland products of an annual value of $1,000 or more" (19-19-2).

Loud neighbors: what you can do in West Virginia

1. Find your local ordinance. City and county codes set any quiet hours and decibel limits; the city clerk or county commission can tell you what applies.
2. Call the police non-emergency line. If the noise is in a place listed in 61-6-1b, such as a mobile home park, public parking area or apartment common area, an officer's request to desist is the step the statute requires before continued noise becomes disorderly conduct.
3. A continuing nuisance. Municipalities may abate anything a majority of the governing body considers a public nuisance (8-12-5(22)), and county commissions may abate what they determine to be a public nuisance (7-1-3kk). Whether a private lawsuit fits your situation is a question for a lawyer licensed in West Virginia.
4. Rental property. Noise disputes between tenants and landlords also involve the lease and landlord-tenant law; see our West Virginia landlord-tenant laws guide.
5. Fireworks. The state consumer fireworks article "does not affect the authority of the governing body of a municipality to prohibit or regulate the use of consumer fireworks within its boundaries" (29-3E-10), so check your city code. For West Virginia's fireworks rules, see our West Virginia fireworks laws guide.

Related pages

• Noise ordinance laws by state
• West Virginia landlord-tenant laws
• West Virginia fireworks laws
• Ohio noise ordinance laws
• Pennsylvania noise ordinance laws

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

Last updated: 2026-10-10.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the noise laws in West Virginia?

The main state noise offense is disorderly conduct under W. Va. Code 61-6-1b: unreasonably loud noise intended to cause annoyance or alarm, in listed places, after an officer asks the person to stop. Vehicle mufflers are covered by 17C-15-34, and quiet hours for homes come from city and county ordinances.

What are the quiet hours in West Virginia?

West Virginia state parks observe quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Quiet hours for homes, where they exist, are set by your city or county ordinance.

Is a loud neighbor disorderly conduct in West Virginia?

It can be if the noise happens in a place listed in 61-6-1b, such as a mobile home park, public parking area or apartment common area, is intended to cause annoyance or alarm, and continues after a law-enforcement officer asks the person to stop. A private single-family home is not among the listed places, so the local ordinance usually applies.

What is the penalty for disorderly conduct noise in West Virginia?

Disorderly conduct under 61-6-1b is a misdemeanor; a person convicted may be confined in jail for 24 hours or fined not more than $100.

What is the fine for a loud muffler in West Virginia?

A muffler violation under 17C-15-34 is a misdemeanor with a fine of not more than $100 on a first conviction, not more than $200 on a second within one year, and not more than $500 on a third or later conviction (17C-15-6).

Can a city in West Virginia regulate noise?

Yes. Municipalities may prevent injury or annoyance from anything dangerous, offensive or unwholesome, suppress disorderly conduct and abate public nuisances (8-12-5), with penalties that can include up to 30 days in jail (8-11-1). County commissions may adopt public nuisance ordinances with a misdemeanor penalty (7-1-3kk).

Can a shooting range be sued for noise in West Virginia?

Where a municipal or county noise ordinance exists, a range operating in compliance with the noise ordinances in effect when its construction or operation began may not be enjoined, sued for nuisance or prosecuted over its noise, and local standards cannot be made stricter for it (61-6-23(e)(1)). Where no such ordinance exists, a neighbor's noise nuisance suit is limited to the two-year windows in 61-6-23(b) and (c): after a substantial change in use or resumed shooting following more than a year of inactivity, or, for a neighbor whose ownership came first, after the range's establishment.