Travis County, TX Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)
Amplified music rules in Travis County, TX, also called sound permit, PA system, or live music ordinances, set decibel limits, time-of-day restrictions, and when permits are required.
Key Facts
- Section
- Travis County Code § 232.023
- Generator/music curfew
- Off 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
- General noise standard
- No fixed hours, disturbance-based
- Lighting rule
- Same disturbance standard as noise
- Enforcement
- Travis County Park Rangers
Summary
Travis County parks require every generator and every amplified-music source to be silenced between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., a flat nine-hour curfew that applies regardless of how loud the sound actually is. Outside those hours, any noise level that could reasonably disturb other visitors or adjacent residents is separately banned as excessive noise.
a. Visitors will not create excessive noise, meaning a level which could reasonably be determined to disturb other visitors or adjacent residents.
b. All combustible engine generators and/or amplified music must be turned off between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
c. Visitors are not permitted to introduce artificial lighting that could reasonably be determined to disturb other visitors or adjacent residents.
Full Breakdown
023 sets two distinct noise standards for Travis County parks. The first, in subsection (a), is a general nuisance rule with no fixed clock: visitors may not create noise at a level that could reasonably be determined to disturb other visitors or adjacent residents, at any hour. , a rule that doesn't depend on whether anyone is actually disturbed. even in an otherwise empty park, while excessive noise from any other source remains regulated only by the reasonable-disturbance standard around the clock. Subsection (c) pairs the noise rule with an identical artificial-lighting standard: lighting that could reasonably disturb other visitors or adjacent residents is likewise prohibited.
Together the three subsections cover the two ways a park visitor can carry noise or light into neighboring areas: a night-time generator and amplified-sound curfew, and an all-hours nuisance standard for everything else. Like the rest of Chapter 232, this rule applies only inside County park boundaries, the adjacent-residents language notwithstanding; it is not a county-wide noise ordinance for unincorporated Travis County generally.
Violations & Fines
Running a generator or amplified music past 10 p.m., or otherwise creating noise a Park Ranger determines is disturbing other visitors, is enforced as a general park-rules violation under Sec. 232.010: eviction from the park for at least 48 hours and a criminal trespass warning, both issued on the spot by Travis County Park Rangers, who are commissioned peace officers. Trespass warnings can be appealed by emailing tcpp@traviscountytx.gov within seven days of issuance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time does amplified music have to stop in Travis County parks?
Can I run a generator overnight while camping in a Travis County park?
Is there a noise rule for Travis County parks outside the 10 p.m. curfew?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Travis County
Texas rules heatmap·Compare Travis County to another location·View the Texas noise ordinances overview
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