Blue Earth County, MN Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

Chapter 12's general park conduct rules, adopted under Ordinance No. 410, list amplified sound alongside a series of other park-only prohibitions. Sec. 12-4(11) makes it unlawful to use loudspeakers or other amplifying systems in a county park except with written permission from the board of commissioners, the public works director, or an authorized representative; the same section separately bars fires outside designated culinary areas, unpermitted business activity, and unrestrained pets. The rule applies only within land the county has established as a park under Sec.

12-3's definitions, covering facilities such as the Red Jacket Bicycle Trail, Williams Nature Center, and the county's other reserves and recreation areas; it does not reach amplified sound on private property elsewhere in the unincorporated county, which the code leaves unregulated by decibel or time limit. Anyone organizing a larger event with amplified sound, such as a licensed mass gathering of 1,000 or more people, instead falls under Sec. 10-31's sound restriction, which bars letting an assembly's sound carry unreasonably beyond the enclosed event boundary, and under Sec.

10-32(11)'s requirement that any amplified sound after 9:00 p.m. not unreasonably disturb the sleep of neighboring residents. A violation of the park rule is enforced under Sec. 12-18 by the sheriff's department or designated park employees, who may eject a violator from the park, and is punishable as a misdemeanor under Minn. Stats. § 609.03(3).