Caddo Parish, LA Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

Section 32-164 of the Caddo Parish Code of Ordinances carries four amplified-sound rules, and each uses a different yardstick. Subsection (15) covers personal or commercial vehicular music amplification or reproduction equipment. It cannot be operated so that it is plainly audible at a residential property line between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. Subsection (16) is stricter and has no time window: personal vehicular music amplification equipment cannot be plainly audible at a distance of 50 feet in any direction from the operator. Subsection (17) covers self-contained, portable, hand-held music or sound equipment on a public space or public right-of-way. From 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. it cannot be plainly audible at 50 feet from the operator, and from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. it cannot be plainly audible by any person other than the operator.

Section 32-160 defines plainly audible as any sound that can be detected by a person using his or her unaided hearing faculties. No meter is needed for these three subsections. An officer standing 50 feet from the vehicle or speaker, or at the residential property line, only has to hear the music.

Subsection (20) governs loudspeakers, public address systems and similar devices. None can produce sound above the section 32-163 levels for the receiving property type without a permit. Table 1 in section 32-163 sets those levels at 50 dBA by day and 45 dBA at night for a noise sensitive receiver, 55 and 50 dBA for residential or designated protected receivers, and 60 dBA around the clock for other receivers, or 5 dBA over the measured background level, whichever is greater. The permit is granted only for amplifying music or human speech, or both. Apply to the parish and pay a $10.00 administrative fee, or file a sworn statement of inability to pay. One permit is valid for one 14-hour period between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. It cannot be issued to the same or any other person for the same location more than twice in any 30-day period, and for a sound truck the location is the area traversed in one day. Even a permitted system cannot exceed 65 dBA measured from the property line of the nearest receiving property.

The application must list the date and hours requested, the applicant's name and address, the person in charge of the equipment, the purpose, the address and description of the site, and the type of equipment. Section 32-164(9) separately exempts from section 32-163 any public performance, gathering or parade for which the parish has issued a permit. Anyone who needs more than the permit allows can seek a variance under subsection (22), decided by the Caddo Parish Commission.