Collierville, TN Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

Section 130.022(e) of the Collierville Code of Ordinances, the Town's anti-noise chapter, sets three separate audibility tests. First, no one may operate any radio, television, phonograph, loudspeaker, sound amplifying equipment or similar device on a public right-of-way, in a public park or from a motor vehicle in a way that is plainly audible at 7.5 meters (25 feet). Second, in a residential area no one may operate or play, or allow to be played, a radio, television, phonograph, musical instrument, loudspeaker or similar device that is plainly audible to any person off the premises of the operating party, unless a permit has been issued. Third, a musical instrument played on a public right-of-way or in a public park, playground or recreation area cannot be plainly audible at 15 meters (50 feet) unless a permit has been issued.

Inside Town parks, Section 90.08 adds a stricter rule: except for activities with a permit from the Collierville Parks and Recreation Department, no one may operate a radio, television, phonograph, amplifier, loud speaker or similar device so the noise is plainly audible to anyone other than the operator in or on the grounds of a Town park or its building facilities.

Section 130.022 also exempts the reasonable noncommercial, non-profit use of amplifiers and loudspeakers for public addresses and for advertising functions sponsored by non-profit organizations, but only after a permit is secured from the Town Clerk. The permit designates the hours, and use is restricted to those hours. Separately, the section bars using a drum, loudspeaker or other noise device to attract attention to a performance, show, or sale or display of merchandise.

Enforcement runs through the Collierville Police Department. Violations are prosecuted like other Town Code misdemeanors, started by a traffic citation ticket, or by a summons on a private citizen's complaint, after a police officer verifies the sound with a sound meter.