Barrow County, GA Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

Barrow County Code § 58-4(b)(3) is narrower than the general noise standard in the same section: it targets sound equipment, specifically any radio receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph, loudspeaker, sound amplifier or other device for producing or reproducing sound, only when it is used to project sound onto the public streets for commercial advertising or to attract public attention to a building or structure. The subsection flatly prohibits that use, and it then adds a distinct rule for the announcements the ordinance does allow: any loudspeaker announcement over public streets shall only be made by the announcer in person and without the aid of any mechanical device, meaning a live human voice through the speaker, not a recorded or pre-amplified track.

presumption of violation when the sound carries 50 feet. Read together, the two subsections mean a business cannot run recorded advertising over an outdoor loudspeaker at any hour, while any sound equipment generally must also stay under the 50-foot, nighttime threshold. Exceptions in § 58-4(c) for organized school programs and county- or sheriff's-office-authorized public events can still require a special variance from the director of license and permits under § 58-4(d) for a recorded announcement system.