Noise Ordinances in Sumter County, SC (2026)
4 rules for unincorporated Sumter County, South Carolina.
Verified from official government sources
Quiet Hours
Unincorporated Sumter County presumes noise is unlawful between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. if it comes from a sound device within 50 feet of a home. Sumter County Code § 14-134(b) creates that nighttime presumption whenever the noise causes distress or discomfort to a person of ordinary sensibilities, whether or not that person actually lives on the affected property.
Sumter County Nighttime Noise Curfew
Some RestrictionsSumter County Code § 14-134(b)
(b)For the purposes of this article, noise generated by any sound device between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in any area within 50 feet of the property line of any dwelling, apartment, hotel, roominghouse or other such residential facility, or hospital or nursing home or other similar care facility, and which noise results in distress, disturbance, discomfort or injury to a complainin...
Barking Dogs
In unincorporated Sumter County, letting an animal bark, whine, or howl in an excessive, unwarranted, and continuous fashion so it repeatedly annoys neighbors or interferes with their use of their property is declared a public nuisance under Sec. 6-24 and is unlawful, alongside other nuisance conduct like repeated property damage or unsanitary odors.
Sumter County Barking Dog Nuisance Rule
Some RestrictionsSumter County Code § 6-24(a)(6)
(a)It shall be unlawful for any person, corporation, partnership, or other entity within the unincorporated limits of the county to own, keep, possess or maintain an animal in such a manner so as to constitute a public nuisance. The following acts or actions, whether of omission or commission, by an owner or possessor of any animal are hereby declared to be a public nuisance (a "nuisance") and ...
Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound
Unincorporated Sumter County bans operating any 'sound device,' from speakers to engines, loud enough to disturb people in nearby homes at any hour. Sumter County Code § 14-134(a) prohibits sound that annoys, disturbs or infringes on residents' quiet and comfort, and subsection (c) separately bars any sound device operated any time in a manner that unreasonably disturbs people of ordinary sensibilities or creates a public nuisance.
Sumter County Sound Device Noise Ban
Some RestrictionsSumter County Code § 14-134(a),(c),(e)
(a)It shall be unlawful for any person to use, play or operate any sound device within the unincorporated areas of the county, or to create, assist in creating, permit, continue or permit the continuance of any noise generated by any sound device, in a manner or with such volume as to annoy, disturb or infringe upon the quiet, comfort and repose of any person within or on the premises of any dw...
Aircraft Noise
Unincorporated Sumter County's noise ordinance does not reach airport and airplane noise. Sumter County Code § 14-134(d) lists 'airport and airplane noise' among the activities excluded from the article's ban on disturbing sound, so operations at Shaw Air Force Base and Sumter Airport are not subject to the county's residential noise-nuisance rules, even at night.
Sumter County Airport Noise Exemption
Few RestrictionsSumter County Code § 14-134(d)
(d)This article shall not apply to noise on construction sites, emergency signal devices, material handling by sanitation crews, licensed game hunting on property where same is allowed, refuse compacting vehicles, airport and airplane noise, and sounds emanating from governmental activities.
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