Amplified music rules in Milwaukee County, WI — also called sound permit, PA system, or live music ordinances — set decibel limits, time-of-day restrictions, and when permits are required.
Milwaukee County has no general amplified-music ordinance for private property; those rules are municipal. The county does set a real amplified-sound limit in its parks: under Code Chapter 47, no radio, instrument or amplification device may be heard more than 50 feet away unless the Parks director permits an event.
For homes, bars, and private venues, amplified-music limits in Milwaukee County are set by each municipality's noise ordinance, not by the county. The one place the COUNTY regulates amplified sound directly is on its parkland. Milwaukee County Code Chapter 47 (Parks and Parkways) prohibits operating any radio, instrument or amplification device in a county park so that it is heard beyond 50 feet, and bars operating one within 50 feet of a park boundary where it can be heard outside. The Director of Parks, Recreation and Culture, or the County Board, may authorize musical shows and gatherings not limited by that section. Special-event amplified sound in a county park requires a parks permit.
In a county park, amplified sound heard beyond 50 feet is a Chapter 47 violation enforced by Parks staff and the Sheriff's Office and carries a county forfeiture. Elsewhere, complaints are handled by the municipality under its noise ordinance.
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