Greenwood County, SC Noise from Specific Sources: Low-Frequency Bass Limits (2026)

Greenwood County Code § 11-3-2(a)(2) targets "radios, phonographs, television, etc.": playing any radio, hi-fi, stereo set, phonograph, piccolo, television, or musical instrument "in such manner or with such volume as to annoy or disturb any person," or playing such an instrument so as to disturb the quiet, comfort, or repose of anyone in a dwelling or residence. The provision sits inside the county's general noise ordinance, § 11-3-2(a), which forbids any loud, excessive, unnecessary, or disturbing noise in the unincorporated county without a sheriff's permit.

Subsection (b) sets an objective threshold: a regulated noise violates the section when it is "plainly audible at a distance of 50 feet from its source," a standard that reaches heavy bass carrying through walls or across a yard even without a specific decibel limit. Subsection (d) treats the complaints of three or more residents, or one complaint joined with a sheriff's deputy's own report, as prima facie evidence of a violation, and subsection (e) declares noise audible in public streets or places that breaks these standards a public nuisance the sheriff may abate directly.

Noise from county-sponsored events and public ballparks or playing fields is exempted under subsection (c)(6) and (c)(8). Adopted by Ordinance No. 30-96, § I, November 19, 1996, the section applies only within the unincorporated area; Greenwood, Ninety Six, Ware Shoals, Hodges, and Troy each enforce their own municipal noise codes.