Jessamine County, KY Noise from Specific Sources: Car Alarm Limits (2026)

The Jessamine County Fiscal Court's Noise Control Ordinance (Chapter 92) addresses alarms in § 92.36(I), headed "Emergency signaling devices." Division (I)(2) is the car alarm rule. Sounding or permitting the sounding of any exterior burglar or fire alarm or any motor vehicle burglar alarm is prohibited unless the alarm is automatically terminated within 20 minutes of activation. The rule targets the alarm's design and the owner's responsibility: the device has to shut itself off, and the person who permits it to sound is the one cited. The phrase "or permitting" places responsibility on the vehicle owner rather than on a passing neighbor.

Division (I)(1) is broader. The intentional sounding or permitting the sounding outdoors of any fire, burglar or civil defense alarm, siren, whistle or similar stationary emergency signaling device is a violation, except for emergency purposes or for testing. A genuine break-in or fire does not trigger a citation under that division.

Two neighboring divisions cover related sound. Division (F) makes sounding any horn or signaling device on a vehicle on any street or public place for an unnecessary and unreasonable period of time a violation, which reaches a repeating horn pattern from a vehicle on a public road. Division (H) limits stationary nonemergency signaling devices, such as a bell, chime, siren or whistle, to no more than 30 seconds in any hourly period.

Enforcement runs through § 92.15(A): the Kentucky State Police, the Jessamine County Sheriff's Department, the Nicholasville Police Department, the Wilmore Police Department or any duly elected constitutional peace officer of Jessamine County. Under § 92.38 the officer can issue a warning or an order requiring abatement of the sound source within a reasonable time, unless the officer has reason to believe there will not be compliance. Section 92.39 provides for a uniform citation, except where the person is acting in good faith to comply with an abatement order. Section 92.04 defines a motor vehicle as a vehicle of four or more wheels propelled by mechanical power and required to be licensed, and a motorcycle separately, so the alarm rule's wording names motor vehicle burglar alarms. Neighbors keep a civil path under § 92.41.