Midland, TX Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)
Amplified music rules in Midland, 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
- Park permit requirement
- Written permission from parks director
- Covers
- Instruments, amplified music, concerts
- Park enforcement
- Expulsion from grounds, § 9-5-17
- Citywide amplifier rule
- Loud amplifiers are a nuisance, § 6-6-15(B)
- Permitted-event defense
- Advance public-entity permission is a defense
- Decibel minimum
- None required to prove violation
Summary
Playing musical instruments, amplified music, or holding a concert in a Midland park or playground requires advance permission from the director of parks and recreation under City Code § 9-5-1. Citywide, loud loudspeakers and amplifiers are also a punishable nuisance under § 6-6-15(B), unless the amplified sound is part of a permitted public event on city, county, school or other public-entity property.
Sec. 9-5-1. - Playing of musical instruments, amplified music and concerts. It shall be unlawful for any person within a park or playground to play musical instruments, to play amplified music, or to conduct a concert without permission from the director of the parks and recreation department. ... Sec. 6-6-15. - Specific acts deemed loud and raucous. ... (B)Loudspeakers and amplifiers. The use of any loudspeaker or amplifier of such intensity that annoys and disturbs persons of ordinary sensibilities in the immediate vicinity thereof. Provided, however, that it shall be a defense to prosecution under this subsection for operating such loudspeakers and amplifiers that the same were operated at a public event on property owned by the city, county, a school, or public entity and advance permission for such operation was obtained from the applicable entity.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Municipal Code: Supplement 1 Update 2).
Full Breakdown
Section 9-5-1 sits in Chapter 9-5, Parks and Playgrounds, and applies specifically to City-owned parks and playgrounds: playing an instrument, playing amplified music, or conducting a concert there without the parks director's permission is unlawful. ' Outside a park, Midland's citywide noise ordinance in Chapter 6-6 treats 'any unreasonably loud, disturbing, raucous, or unnecessary noise' as a nuisance under § 6-6-13, and § 6-6-13(C) specifies that a minimum decibel level is not required to prove a violation. Section 6-6-15(B) specifically lists loudspeakers and amplifiers 'of such intensity that annoys and disturbs persons of ordinary sensibilities' as deemed loud and raucous, but gives a defense if the amplified sound was part of a public event on city, county, school or public-entity property with advance permission from that entity, mirroring the park permission scheme in § 9-5-1.
Section 6-6-16(I) separately shields lawfully scheduled stadium events, permitted parades, amphitheater and pavilion events, sponsored festivals and concerts, and constitutionally protected expression from prosecution as noise nuisances. When a noise complaint does go to court, § 6-6-14 has the trier of fact weigh the volume, intensity, background noise, proximity to residential sleeping facilities, the zoning and density of the area, the duration, and the time of day the noise occurred.
Violations & Fines
Playing amplified music or holding a concert in a park without the parks director's permission subjects a violator to expulsion from the park under § 9-5-17, on top of any other penalty the Code otherwise sets for the Chapter 9-5 offense. Outside a park, operating a loudspeaker or amplifier loud enough to disturb people of ordinary sensibilities is prosecutable as a noise nuisance under § 6-6-15(B) unless the sound came from a permitted public event.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to play amplified music in a Midland park?
Is there a decibel limit for loud music in Midland?
Can I run a loudspeaker at an outdoor festival in Midland?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Midland
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