Warrick County, IN Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Warrick County Code Chapter 131 defines a NUISANCE animal, at § 131.01, as one that 'causes frequent, persistent loud noises or other sounds common to its species which disrupt the comfort or repose of any person in the immediate neighborhood or in any residential area,' but carves out an exception for an animal kept at a boarding kennel, kennel, training facility, or in the practice of animal husbandry. Section 131.11 makes it unlawful for an owner to 'own, keep, possess, or otherwise harbor any animal that is a nuisance' anywhere in unincorporated Warrick County, and gives the county's Animal Control Officer sole discretion to decide whether a particular dog's barking, or any other animal's noise, rises to nuisance status.

Once that determination is made, § 131.11(C) exposes the owner to a fine and lets the Animal Control Officer impound the animal under §§ 131.30 through 131.34, which includes a posted notice and a six-day redemption window before the animal becomes county property. Under the chapter-wide penalty section, § 131.99, a first offense draws a fine capped at $100, a repeat violation is capped at $500, and the owner can also be billed up to $750 in attorney fees if the case goes to litigation.

The rule reaches only the unincorporated county; Boonville, Newburgh, Chandler, Elberfeld, Lynnville, and Tennyson enforce their own town noise codes. Because the Animal Control Officer's nuisance call is discretionary rather than tied to a decibel meter or a fixed time limit, the same barking pattern that draws no action on a rural acreage can trigger a citation in a denser subdivision closer to neighbors.