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

Section 92.36(C) applies to any person owning, possessing or harboring a domestic animal or bird. It is not limited to dogs: howling, barking, whining, meowing, squawking or other means of making sound all count. Four elements must line up. The animal acts without provocation, the sound is intrusive, it exceeds a sound duration level of L50 over a 15-minute time span, and it creates a noise disturbance that can be heard within 10 feet of the walls of an adjacent residential dwelling. The rule does not apply to farm livestock, public animal shelters or public zoos.

The definitions in § 92.04 fill in the elements. DOMESTIC ANIMAL means any animal except a human being converted to domestic habitat. INTRUSIVE NOISE is sound disruptive or distracting to daily activities such as sleeping, dining, reading, studying or vocal conversations. PROVOCATION is justification for action, meaning the perceived threat of a person or animal trespassing on the dog owner's property or a reaction to sudden sounds which may alarm the dog or be painful to the dog's sense of hearing. The printed definition cites the barking rule as § 91.36(C), but the barking provision is § 92.36(C). Section 92.04 spells out the L10 and L90 percentile levels, with L10 meaning the level exceeded 10% of the time in a measurement period; L50 is used in § 92.36(C) without its own definition.

An officer judges whether a sound is a noise disturbance, and § 92.37 adds factors such as time of day, proximity of residential structures, and whether the noise is recurrent, intermittent or constant. Enforcement falls to the Kentucky State Police, the Jessamine County Sheriff's Department, the Nicholasville Police Department, the Wilmore Police Department or any duly elected constitutional peace officer under § 92.15(A). Under § 92.38 the officer can issue a warning or an abatement order within a reasonable time, instead of a uniform citation.