Jefferson Parish, LA Noise from Specific Sources: Car Alarm Limits (2026)

The parish's noise ordinance defines "alarm" broadly at Sec. 20-102(b) to include "any fire, burglary, motor vehicle or civil defense alarm, whistle or similar stationary emergency signaling device," which folds a car alarm directly into subsection (h)(8)'s emergency-signaling-device rules. Three separate restrictions apply. m. Second, testing any alarm for longer than sixty seconds is barred at any time of day, so a mechanic or owner checking a car alarm cannot let it run past a minute. Third, testing a complete emergency signaling system, meaning the alarm device together with the personnel response to it, is limited to once per calendar month, and the alarm itself cannot sound for more than fifteen minutes during that monthly test.

These alarm rules sit alongside the horn provision in subsection (h)(1), which separately bars sounding a vehicle horn continuously for more than sixty seconds except as a danger warning, so a car alarm that will not silence itself can trigger a violation on two fronts. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office enforces the section under subsection (d), and because the ordinance's scope in subsection (a) excludes the parish's own municipalities, it governs unincorporated areas like Metairie and Terrytown but not Gretna, Kenner, Harahan or Westwego. A violation is punished under the general Code penalty at section 1-10, up to $1,000 per violation or six months imprisonment, with each day it continues a separate offense.