Dearborn County, IN Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

Chapter 93 of the Dearborn County Code, adopted by the Board of Commissioners as Ord. 7-1998, regulates amplified sound through a reasonableness test rather than a meter reading. Section 93.01(A) applies to anyone who operates, causes to be operated or permits to be operated a radio, television, phonograph, tape player, loud speaker, musical instrument, siren, car alarm, whistle, bell or other sound amplification device. The violation occurs when the sound is of such intensity and duration as to create unreasonable noise or loud sound and causes inconvenience and annoyance to persons of ordinary sensibilities. Because the section reaches anyone who permits the device to be operated, a host or property occupant is covered along with the person at the controls.

Section 93.02 lists what is weighed: complaints of neighbors or other persons in the proximity, the location and time of day when the noise is produced, and the type, intensity and duration of the noise. Chapter 93 contains no decibel number and no fixed quiet hours, so time of day is only one factor.

Section 93.03 adds a warning mechanism. It is presumed a violation if notice to cease and desist has been given and the person continues a noise of similar intensity and duration. No warning is required if a person of ordinary sensibilities knew or should have known the noise would cause unwarranted annoyance. A request to desist means actual notice by a law enforcement officer to the offender or an employee or representative, and it stays effective even if the noise disturbs persons other than the one who asked.

Section 93.04 exempts safety signals, warning devices and emergency pressure relief valves, emergency vehicles responding to an emergency, noise from activities of a temporary duration such as parades or festivals, and sounds from the normal conduct of a legally established non-transient business or farming operation when customarily indicated and within a normal range for that use.