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

Wayne County Code § 90.07 makes it unlawful for a person to own or keep any dog that emits unreasonable noise in the unincorporated areas of the county, with UNREASONABLE NOISE defined as frequent or habitual howling, yelping, barking, screeching or other vocalization that causes serious annoyance or disturbance to a reasonable person. The section builds in due-process steps before a citation issues: under § 90.07(D)(1), no violation occurs unless two independent complaints are lodged, though a law enforcement officer who personally witnesses the noise may count as one of the two.

Under § 90.07(D)(2), an officer must first issue at least one warning to the dog's owner or keeper to restrain the dog before issuing any citation, a step the ordinance ties to the warning practice used for disorderly conduct under Indiana Code § 35-45-1-3(2). A person found guilty faces the maximum penalty in § 90.99, and under § 90.07(D)(4) an officer may impound the dog once its owner has been cited three or more times for the violation, with redemption handled through the impounded-dog procedure in § 90.05.

Kennels are expressly carved out of this nuisance section because they are separately regulated under the county's Chapter 156 zoning ordinance, per § 90.07(E). The section states its purpose in § 90.07(A) is to promote quality of life in the unincorporated areas of the county, reinforcing that it does not reach dogs inside Richmond, Centerville or the county's other incorporated towns.