Franklin County, KY Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

The Franklin County Fiscal Court adopted the barking rule as part of the dog subchapter of Chapter 90, and it covers the county outside the corporate limits of Frankfort, Kentucky. The duty falls on the owner, a term defined in § 90.01 to include any person, partnership or corporation that owns, keeps or harbors a dog. A dog is harbored if it is fed or sheltered for three consecutive days or more, so a neighbor who feeds a stray for three days can become its owner for purposes of the rule.

Section 90.05 says no owner shall fail to exercise proper care and control of a dog so as to prevent a list of behaviors. Barking is one of them: excessive, continuous or untimely barking, howling or helping, where the sounds are unreasonably loud and disturbing and of such a character and duration as to disturb the peace and quiet of the neighborhood or to be detrimental to the life and health of any individual. The same section lists chasing of vehicles, molesting passers-by, attacking other domestic animals, trespassing upon school grounds or private property, and damaging property of any nature.

The code gives no measured threshold, so the test is character and duration of the noise as it affects the neighborhood. Enforcement runs through the Dog Warden, employed and appointed by the Fiscal Court, or any peace officer of the county. Under § 90.03 they issue the owner a citation or criminal complaint giving notice of the charge. A dog that is off the owner's premises can also be taken to the Franklin County Humane Society, Inc., Small Animal Shelter under § 90.02. Keeping a dog restrained on the owner's premises does not excuse a barking problem, because § 90.05 reaches sound carried from the owner's own property.