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

Section 158.02 sets the baseline: no person may make noise that unreasonably annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, safety or welfare of any person, or precludes enjoyment of property or affects its value, and that general prohibition is not limited by the specific restrictions that follow. Section 158.03(A) then targets amplified sound directly, making it unlawful to operate or permit the operation of any radio, television set, musical instrument, tape or record player, amplifier or similar device in a manner plainly audible across property boundaries or through partitions common to two or more persons within a building.

PLAINLY AUDIBLE is defined in § 158.01 as noise whose information content is ambiguously communicated to a listener, including understandable speech, a raised or agitated voice, or comprehensible musical rhythm, so the standard turns on whether content carries, not on a decibel reading, for this specific restriction. Stationary sources get a numeric backstop instead: § 158.05(A) caps sound pressure at the property boundary at 55 dBA in residential and commercial zones and 66 dBA in industrial zones, with the lower zone limit controlling when a boundary splits two zones.

Section 158.07 assigns enforcement to the Warrick County Sheriff's Office, with citations filed in Warrick Superior Court, County Division, by the Code Enforcement Officer or County Attorney. Section 158.06 exempts agricultural sounds, emergency alerts, sanctioned school activities and county or municipal park special events from the whole chapter.